Each of The Mane Six has a set of ideas that they explore, and I’ve been trying to map them out for Season One. I found a really cool detail that I just have to share:
So, Rarity’s hyper-focus was a core part of her character. It gave her a great attention to detail, but made her prone to getting tunnel vision. This was something she legitimately struggled with, as you can see in episodes like “Look Before You Sleep” and “Winter Wrap-up”. The first thing established about her character is that she can’t just drop what she’s doing; she has to take a few seconds to come down.
In “Sonic Rainboom”, Rarity is the one to notice Rainbow Dash’s stage fright, and going to Cloudsdale was her idea. As the episode progresses, the attention her wings attracts causes her to get sidetracked. Here, she represents a path Rainbow could take: someone who literally flew too close to the sun and was destroyed by her own ego. Meanwhile, the cocky Rainbow Dash finally has to confront her own insecurities and the possibility of failure.
The detail I only recently noticed is in how Rainbow actually saves Rarity: by putting all her insecurities aside and adopting
her own hyper-focus. This is even reflected by the visuals:
It even takes Rainbow a few seconds to come down and realize what she did. Still one of the best scenes in the whole show.