Which pony least lives up to her element?

[Inazuma 53]

I've wondered this myself. I mean she DID cut off part of her tail and she did get really dirty and stuff so Sweety Belle would forgive her (generous or no?) But it does seem like her manipulation out weighs her generosity. Not to say I dislike her her because I don't, but yeah she does seem to do more "bad" than "good"

 

That wasn't a case of generosity trying to earn Sweetie Belle's forgiveness. Not to mention she stole the spotlight from Rainbow rather than help support like she was supposed too. If she hadn't done that her life and the Wonderbolts's lives would not have been in danger.

[Nerdy Luigi 2,065]

She actually quite generous. She has made dresses for her friends several times. She is not really a good representation of generousity I think, however.

[Dark Horn 430]

@WheatleyCore:

 

Pinkie Pie always laughs, Twilight uses magic at every opportunity, Applejack is almost always honest, Rainbow Dash doesn't desert her friends, and Fluttershy is always kind to a fault.

 

However, you are right on some things - despite deciding that going to the garden party was more important than coming home to Ponyville for Twilight's birthday, she still had the intent of making Twilight a dress. Also, she did give away dresses and her ticket - even though in the end, everyone was willing to give up their ticket, so it doesn't really count. Also, letting Fluttershy have the spotlight and cutting off her tail was generous.

 

Nevertheless, a good deal of the time, she doesn't really live up to her element - at least not as much as the others.

[Enemy Stand 446]

@WheatleyCore:

 

Pinkie Pie always laughs, Twilight uses magic at every opportunity, Applejack is almost always honest, Rainbow Dash doesn't desert her friends, and Fluttershy is always kind to a fault.

Pinkie's been shown out of this element a few times, like in Party of One, and The Last Roundup when AJ breaks a Pinkie Promise.

 

Also, Applejack has been dishonest a few times as well. She wouldn't tell Pinkie why she was in the barn, she didn't tell them "at breakfast" in The Last Roundup. (Yes, I know you said almost always)

 

The characters don't follow they're elements all the time, and that's okay. They're not supposed to be perfect.

[Ezio Auditore 702]

Rarity is very generous, but it's true she has slipped a few times. But so have all of them

 

Applejack: Lied to Pinkie in "Party of One"

Rainbow: Refer to the mysterious Mare'do well episode

Fluttershy: Refer to "Putting Your Hoof Down"

Pinkie: Mental breakdown

[Sylentmana 271]

That's what makes Rarity interesting. Even though she's the Element of Generosity she still struggles with it and is able to learn lessons about her own element.  Her element may be the most difficult one to consistently exercise as it conflicts with a person's natural instinct to take care of one's wants and needs before others.  She is, in a way, conflicting with nature itself.

 

 It's easy to use magic a lot when its your special talent. It's easy to be honest when you live a fairly straight-forward lifestyle. Its easy to be kind when you naturally desire to take care of living things. Its easy to be loyal to your best friends. It's easy to laugh when your constantly hyper and random.

 

Giving of yourself often can be difficult to do, especially when it is to your detriment and when you also struggle with personal vanity.  This is what makes Rarity and interesting and complex character.  Just my opinion, anyway.

[Dark Horn 430]

I think Sylentmana really captured the flip side of the coin to what I'm saying - I agree that Rarity is an interesting character, and I admit that it's naturally hard for her to be generous.

 

Despite that, however, she doesn't really fit the role of generosity. I don't dislike her, I think she's a great and humorous character, even though she doesn't portray her element very well.

[Moonlight 7,286]

Pinkie Pie always laughs, Twilight uses magic at every opportunity, Applejack is almost always honest, Rainbow Dash doesn't desert her friends, and Fluttershy is always kind to a fault.

 

Pinkie Pie = In the Party of One episode, she turns depressed. In the Last Roundup episode, she's severely pissed at Applejack.

 

Twilight tries using science quite a lot, especially in the Feeling Pinkie Keen episode.

 

Applejack was not honest in a Party of One. She also lied to Rainbow in the Mysterious Mare Do Well.

 

Fluttershy was cruel as hell in Putting Your Hoof Down, or even standing up to the dragon in Dragonshy. 

 

Rainbow Dash was extremely rude to Fluttershy during most of the Dragonshy episode. Let's not forget her abandoning Twilight in A Canterlot Wedding. 

Edited July 15, 2013 by WheatleyCore

[Sugar Cube 4,843]

Rarity isn't always generous just the same as Applejack isn't always honest, Rainbow Dash isn't always loyal, Pinkie Pie isn't always spreading laughter, and even Fluttershy isn't always kind. I want to think that the writers do this on purpose, because despite the fact that each pony wields an element that reflects their good qualities, they aren't perfect, and are prone to making some mistakes from time to time. I do wonder if the writers sometimes forget that each character is supposed to reflect a certain element, but at the end of the day, the elements of harmony are just a plot device, and I really don't think we should make a big deal out of them.There's a lot of classic and humorous moments involving the main ponies "breaking" out of their elements so to speak, and I think that the characters would be a lot more boring if they never slipped up. That, and they would be treading on some serious Mary Sue territory.

 

Rarity's stinginess, AJ's dishonesty, Dash's lack of loyalty, Fluttershy's bad side, and Pinkie's gloominess are all characteristics that make them even more fun and multi-faceted characters:

 

- Applejack has lied numerous times. They're usually small lies that are often done to spare her friends' feelings, get out of something she doesn't want to do, or when she feels absolutely has to.

- Rainbow Dash more or less abandoned Twilight at the wedding, left Rarity and Pinkie Pie stranded out in the desert, and was quick to leave the team behind in Dragonshy. You could argue that she wasn't loyal to Gilda either.

- Fluttershy was downright nasty after receiving lessons from Iron Will. Let's not forget her nasty outburst in The Best Night Ever, or her very confrontational and almost threatening tone to Twilight in Magic Duel.

- Pinkie Pie becomes Pinkamena whenever she's extremely sad, and there's no laughter anywhere when this happens.

 

Rarity is definitely not alone. I also want to add that, many times when Rarity is being greedy or stingy, she is unaware of it due to her naturally self-centered way. She still means well, and whenever she has an opportunity to share her fortunes, she willingly does so. Suited For Success is still my favorite Rarity episode because her generosity is in full force. She took the time to create dresses that perfectly suited the tastes of her friends, was made out to be a laughing stock because of it, and yet she was still very quick to forgive her friends. That's a lot of generosity right there.

Edited July 15, 2013 by Sugar Cube

[fimdash 1,196]

This is definitely my main gripe with Rarity. She's supposed to be the element of generosity, yet we've seen her commit selfish acts quite often. I hated seeing Rarity make Sweetie Belle drag all of her unnecessary luggage in Sleepless in Ponyville. While it was cute how Rarity consoled Sweetie Belle during the campfire stories, it doesn't make up for her selfish ways. Also, this instance happened in season 3, and I was hoping that Rarity would have changed at least a bit by now, but she's still showing signs of selfishness. How nice would it have been to see Sweetie Belle struggling to pull the luggage, and then seeing Rarity take over? It would show a true redemption of Rarity's character, at least to me. Rarity's selfishness in that scene is just one of many instances when Rarity was uncharacteristic of her element. I don't see why the writers have to put in so many scenes of Rarity being selfish/greedy. I guess some of it fits her personality, but we see it way too often and it really makes me skeptical of how generous she really is.

 

She's also shallow and manipulative. I hate the scenes when Rarity flirts with guys with an ulterior motive. There was that scene in The Best Night Ever when she asks those stallions to pull the carriage, as well as that scene in Putting Your Hoof Down when Rarity seduces that one nerdy stallion to teach Fluttershy a lesson in cajoling. Speaking of that cajoling scene, it surprises me that this is being shown as if it's ok. The Mane 6 are supposed to be good role models, and this is not the kind of lesson that the show should be teaching. Like the selfishness, it fits her personality to do these things, but still.. it's definitely not a good lesson for viewers.

 

I will admit that there have also been many scenes of Rarity being generous. It was nice of her to make her friends dresses in Suited for Success, and her redeeming moment in Sisterhooves Social was heartwarming. However, some instances she did a half-assed job because she put her own self-interests over her generosity. Making Twilight's birthday dress in Sweet and Elite is the perfect example. Rarity had this amazing dress idea, but she ended up becoming a parvenu in Canterlot. Her newly acquired fame distracted her, and she only put in an iota of effort into Twilight's dress. Although Twilight really liked the birthday dress, she didn't know that Rarity had a completely different plan and that it was a last minute result.

 

I still like Rarity a lot, but her selfish/manipulative side does bother me quite a bit. I've come across many people who feel the same way about her, so it seems to be a pretty popular opinion. Rarity has room for improvement, and I'm hoping that season 4 will reveal her generous side more often.

[Scootalove 10,689]

I think I have seen Rarity do generous things, all of the things that WheatleyCore said are all of the acts in generosity that Rarity did. But, there are times where Rarity would use Spike for labor or being greedy at times. Rarity's acts of generosity are usually overlooked, that's why people don't see her being generous.

[hawkflame 3,310]

She's not really that generous, but you have to admit, the mane 6 usually don't follow their elements that well to start with anyway.

 

Some acts of generosity:

 

• Rarity made 12 dresses in total for free, for herself and her friends.
• She cut off her tail for Steve Magnet.
• She was willing to be the test dummy for the wing spell in Sonic Rainboom.
• Despite being jealous, she was willing to let Fluttershy have the spotlight instead of trying to actually ruin it for her.
• She made Twilight a dress for her birthday.
• Was willing to give up the ticket at the end of The Ticket Master.
• She made more free outfits for her friends in Secret of my Excess. 

 

There are some others, but those are off the top of my head. Hardly any of the mane 6 follow their elements all of the time; that's what makes them great characters, they're flawed.

 

I was going to add something, but I think this perfectly sums it up. And remember, she's usually the first to notice when something's bothering one of her friends (Sonic Rainboom and even Lesson Zero) which indicates if not generosity, at least a sense of empathy that goes hand in hand with generosity. 

[Orablanco Account 3,707]

[RARITY DEFENSE MODE ENGAGE]

 

You know, just because Rarity isn't prancing about giving everyone free dresses and tacos 24/7 doesn't mean she isn't generous, just like AJ doesn't uphold Honesty every waking instance of her existence, or like how Dash isn't loyal because she's selfish sometimes. Come to think of it, the biggest character flaw in each of the Mane Six is the inverse of their own element. Twilight has a hard time making friends at first and has a hard time not sweating small stuff, Pinkie can be annoying and overbearing, AJ is never honest with herself unless pushed to do so and isn't as frank as she should be, Dash sometimes puts her own achievements and pride above the well-being and feelings of others, Fluttershy has a major anger management problem, and Rarity can be greedy.

 

Having every character be equally flawed and not always knowingly doing the right thing (as opposed to Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, where you had one guy who's the selfish idiot and everyone else is a true, true friend) is good writing.

Edited July 15, 2013 by CITRUS KING46

[Princess Periwinkle 3,775]

She sure spent a lot of time making free dresses for her friends. She also volunteered to have Twilight try out a wing spell on her so she could support RD. She even had a very gallant line. "For Rainbow Dash, I will go first!"

 

 

 

Applejack is almost always honest

 

Ha, that's a laugh. To me it seems she lies the most out of any Mane 6 character.

 

 

 

 

 

[Dark Horn 430]

Alright, I'm willing to concede that the rest of the Mane 6 don't live up to their elements occasionally.

 

But still, what's the most generous thing Rarity's ever done? Give away dresses? Applejack gave away apple treats in The Best Night Ever and some other episodes. Twilight helps out her other friends in generous ways as well. Giving away dresses doesn't really seem to be much of a sacrifice to me personally, considering that Rarity can find gems at-will and could, theoretically, have near-infinite riches.

 

And she has done some pretty nasty things - like stealing Rainbow Dash's thunder in Sonic Rainboom.

Edited July 15, 2013 by Dark Horn

[Hemlock_Conium 46]

-Rainbow Dash ditched celebrating with her friends for the Wonderbolts

 

-Pinkie Pie went insane and refused to go along with Rainbow Dash to a party meant for her only because her friends didn't want to go to a party that was scheduled directly after another

 

-Applejack lied on multiple occasions and refused to talk with her sister after a little vicious gossip

 

-Twilight Sparkle could have used her magic to solve problems many times and when batshit insane when she couldn't reach a due date. She created a problem that nearly tore apart a town. 

 

-Fluttershy was reckless and horrible to animals at the Grand Galloping Gala and even set a trap just to meet one of the animals, and completely destroyed the gala with a stampede running away from her. 

 

-Rarity went to the elusive Canterlot Garden party (ON A TRIP SCHEDULED BY) instead of her friend's birthday party, but she did make Twilight a dress despite her extreme lack of time and exhaustion. She created 18 CUSTOM dresses in a period within at most 3 days. (6 original, 6 altered, back to six original.) While she has used Spike and Sweetie Belle for labor, she had always repaid them. Rarity went to the Sister Hooves Social even after she had expressed extreme discomfort and resistance to such a competition. In "A dog and pony how", she gave Spike one of the biggest, prettiest gems of the whole bunch while she could have just kept it for Sapphire Shores' outfit. And not sure if you've noticed, Sweetie Belle and Rarity act like actual sisters to eachother instead of picture perfect babies made in heaven that are complete lambs to eachother.

 

Sure, she's not generous at allll and the only one who's ever betrayed her element. 

[MLP Moth 224]

She could be more generous in the show. Most of the time Rarity's negative attributes are exposed. They haven't showed enough of her good attributes yet. I hope that changes in season 4. So far, she's really greedy.

[Ihei 712]

Well, even though she's slipped a couple of times, you can't expect her to always show out her element. If she was always generous, then what would the episode "Sweet And Elite" be if she would just be attending Twilight's party instead of both the garden party AND Twi's party? 

[hawkflame 3,310]

Alright, I'm willing to concede that the rest of the Mane 6 don't live up to their elements occasionally.

 

But still, what's the most generous thing Rarity's ever done? Give away dresses? Applejack gave away apple treats in The Best Night Ever and some other episodes. Twilight helps out her other friends in generous ways as well. Giving away dresses doesn't really seem to be much of a sacrifice to me personally, considering that Rarity can find gems at-will and could, theoretically, have near-infinite riches.

 

 

She didn't just "give away dresses", she worked herself to the *bone* creating *multiple* dresses that she knew were absolutely horrible but bit her tongue because they made her friends happy.  Not a sacrifice?  She was exhausted and at her wit's end by the time they were completed.  Generosity  isn't just giving away things, but also sacrificing your own time and effort for no personal gain. 

 

By the way, it should be noted that she is the most willing to do something completely out of her comfort zone for the sake of others (the dresses, the Sisterhooves Social, supporting Fluttershy as a model in spite of her jealousy)

Edited July 15, 2013 by hawkflame

[Dark Horn 430]

Nevertheless, though almost everything you've all said is correct, it seems to me that most of the Mane 6 + Spike are well-intentioned and behave as good friends with the exception of a few episodes.

 

For example, Twilight's a fairly good leader, give her that, except in a few episodes - the one that stands out the most is Lesson Zero.

 

For Fluttershy, she's only become cruel in one or two episodes, such as Putting Your Hoof Down.

 

With Rarity, however, it appears as if she is greedy and avaricious, except in one or two select episodes, like (hay, I can't remember the name of the episode, but it's the one hawkflame referenced).

 

I still like Rarity as a character, but she doesn't seem like the most generous crayon in the box to me.

[Hemlock_Conium 46]

Alright, I'm willing to concede that the rest of the Mane 6 don't live up to their elements occasionally.

 

But still, what's the most generous thing Rarity's ever done? Give away dresses? Applejack gave away apple treats in The Best Night Ever and some other episodes. Twilight helps out her other friends in generous ways as well. Giving away dresses doesn't really seem to be much of a sacrifice to me personally, considering that Rarity can find gems at-will and could, theoretically, have near-infinite riches.

 

And she has done some pretty nasty things - like stealing Rainbow Dash's thunder in Sonic Rainboom.

If we're going to count up the dresses Rarity made for no cost, it'd be, well, 19. Six for the gala, six altered for her friends, and then six again when they realized they shouldn't have changed it. Plus one for Twilight. 

 

 

For the record, Applejack SOLD apple treats. 

 

Rarity took so much time out of her usual day to GENEROUSLY MAKE HUGE CHANGES ON THE DRESSES SHE OFFERED FOR FREE.

Edited July 15, 2013 by Hemlock_Conium

[Dark Horn 430]

Actually, Applejack only sold one treat - she gave away two to Rarity and Prince Blueblood.

 

That being said, Rarity enjoys making dresses, and does little else, despite making terrible dresses for her friends, it's what she does. 19 dresses is really nothing, considering that she made 20 for Sapphire Shore alone.

[Chigens and Kay 3,831]

This thread appears to be discussing MLP:FiM in some way, shape or form. Thus, it has been sentenced to Show Discussion.

 

This is an automatically generated message, by the way.

[Sylentmana 271]

To be fair, Rarity realized her behavior in Sonic Rainboom was wrong and asked Rainbow for forgiveness which shows that she grew a bit as a character.  Also when you consider that she made all those dresses for her friends for free it shows how generous she can be.  She's a custom dress designer and her dresses are requested by high class ponies. Dresses like those aren't cheap and considering all that time she spent designing, creating and redesigning/creating those dresses for her friends is money lost on other projects.  She probably took a huge loss during that time, but for her, it was worth it to please her friends.

[hawkflame 3,310]

Nevertheless, though almost everything you've all said is correct, it seems to me that most of the Mane 6 + Spike are well-intentioned and behave as good friends with the exception of a few episodes.

 

For example, Twilight's a fairly good leader, give her that, except in a few episodes - the one that stands out the most is Lesson Zero.

 

For Fluttershy, she's only become cruel in one or two episodes, such as Putting Your Hoof Down.

 

With Rarity, however, it appears as if she is greedy and avaricious, except in one or two select episodes, like (hay, I can't remember the name of the episode, but it's the one hawkflame referenced).

 

I still like Rarity as a character, but she doesn't seem like the most generous crayon in the box to me.

 

She shows a certain generoaity of spirit in several episodes, which is a bit broader than just giving things away to others.  It involves the appreciation of generosity from her friends (the gem she received from Spike) as well as finding ways to think about/support others as well.  Remember, it was she who picked up on how Rainbow Dash was actually quite nervous for the Young Flyer's competition, and she who asked Twilight to find a spell to get the rest of them to be able to attend the competition, and she who volunteered to be the test subject for said spell.  And she was the one who fully supported Fluttershy as a model, swallowing her own pride in doing so. 

Actually, Applejack only sold one treat - she gave away two to Rarity and Prince Blueblood.

 

That being said, Rarity enjoys making dresses, and does little else, despite making terrible dresses for her friends, it's what she does. 19 dresses is really nothing, considering that she made 20 for Sapphire Shore alone.

 

She wasn't given a time table on those 20 dresses, so it may not have been as big of a rush order.  And regardless, you *saw* how exhausted and frustrated she was by the time those terrible dresses were completed.  To say that it's nothing flies directly in the face of what was shown in the show.  It was an *enormous* effort on her part.