Even the scenes in Ticket Master brought up how meeting Blueblood was her ultimate goal. And the song in TBNE expressed better (in fact, it was the whole point of it) what she really wanted out of the Gala. She was infatuated with him (based on looks and supposed personality), her tone of voice in her fantasy and the scene where she found him are proof of that. Even if she still craved for the reputation somewhat (despite that never being mentioned ever again) it doesn’t mean she wanted it just because. She likes her job, that’s for sure, and a good reputation helps her in business. Unless you think she would ditch her job just like that, you have to agree her reasons weren’t shallow. I’m saying it was neither greed nor lust, just ambition.
Battled greed many times? Tom’s case doesn’t even count, she was forced to be greedy.
@Background Pony
Right. But did you miss her scenes in “The Ticket Master” that explained (and showed) her reasons for wanting to go to the Gala and meet Blueblood to begin with? Again, she’d never met him so it’s not like she had a real romantic interest in him or was even infatuated. She just wanted to show up, catch everyone’s eye and be the center of attention, impress and again, win Blueblood by being the most gorgeous and charming person present and impress Celestia enough as well that she would basically be invited into the royal family. That was all about self-elevation and wanting to attain that station in life, even if it was a silly over the top fantasy. It was still more greed than lust.
But you know what, I never brought Blueblood up in the first place, somebody else did as an argument for why she would fit lust better and I was just trying to show why that isn’t the case. The whole point I was trying to make about Spike being a better fit for lust than Rarity given the options available got derailed in the process. I get what you’re saying about Rarity not coveting possessions just for the sake of always having the most but still, she’s battled greed many times (remember Tom and everything else?) since it’s pretty much the opposite of what her element stands for. The case is the same for pretty much all of them.
Did you miss Rarity’s whole part in “At the Gala”? It was all “meeting a gentleman” and zero “social status”. I never said it was an example of lust, I’m saying that it wasn’t an example of greed.
As for the treasure, she never intended to take all of it, she expressed that more than once, and it wasn’t her top priority (she left it as an aside comment after persuading the dragon). And just like make-up, it’s something that a woman can want for herself, not to sought the approval of others. Rarity likes pretty things, be it gems, jewelry, dresses, etc… wanting them isn’t comparable to someone wanting to unnecessarily hoard something like money or benefits for the sake of being the one to have the most of them.
I think Rarity would be fine as either greed or lust. Sure they’re inaccurate oversimplifications, but all of these are inaccurate oversimplifications.
Okay, my take here. You may find some of these a bit unorthodox, but I have my reasons.
Twilight Sparkle: Greed. Greed isn’t just pursuit of material wealth, but the desire to possess something at any cost, even if it’s self-destructive. For example, Twilight’s obsession with learning magic at the expense of making friends.
Spike: Lust. Lust means giving in to one’s base desires, not merely sexual ones. Spike’s lack of self-control has been seen many times.
Applejack: Pride. A no-brainer, the orange pony’s stubbornness is legendary.
Rainbow Dash: Envy. RD’s competitive streak and narcissism is a mask for her insecurity, her fear that she’s not as good as the heroes she wishes she could be.
Rarity: Gluttony. Gluttony is not just for food, but for worldly pleasures of any sort. Rarity is a hedonist, losing herself in pleasurable sensations whenever she can.
Fluttershy: Wrath. Another no-brainer. We’ve seen the dark side the shy yellow pony keeps hidden away–it’s terrifying when she brings it out.
Pinkie Pie: Sloth. You wouldn’t think this at first, but remember, Sloth isn’t just laziness–it’s disinterest in life. As such, it fits Pinkamena Diane Pie perfectly. Happy, giddy Pinkie Pie is her way of combating it.
@Align
What do you think greed is then? And what do you think jewelry is for, other than to have, look nice and impress other people? It serves no purpose beyond that. I don’t see how you can say Rarity’s trying to charm the dragon so she could swindle him out of his treasure was not greedy on her part. That’s pretty much the definition of it. She wanted his treasure for herself and tried to trick him out of it.
@Background Pony
See my point to Align about the jewelry. As for Blueblood, Rarity was not lusting after him at any point really. At no point was the matter of her going to the Gala to get in the sack with him, she’d never even met him and was not attracted to him specifically so much as she wanted to impress the Canterlot elite, impress Blueblood who is the most desirable and eligible bachelor in Equestria and “win” him for her own by marrying him to attain the crown, as an eventual end result. It was a wild fantasy and not (intentionally) a scheme I don’t think but still purely selfish at the core and yes, a matter of greed more than lust.
I’m not saying that greed doesn’t fit Spike too, because obviously it does but lust also fits him, whereas I don’t think it fits Rarity (unless you’re right and we try to go the FMA route, since I could buy that). That’s the point I’ve been trying to make here all along.
Exactly. When Rarity wanted the treasure, she had something planned for it (even keeping some as jewelry is a viable reason, it’s not like she wanted to keep all the hoard), as for the royal status, it’d do wonders to her job (as seen in S&E), and it was still behind her desire to find a good stallion. Compare that to Spike’s greed spurt, or even Fluttershy being so fixated in making a bunch of animals love her.
I do agree that Lust doesn’t really fit her as a sin. On the other hand, we could see it like in FMA, where unlike the other homunculi and their respective sin, Lust isn’t exactly lustful, but rather an object of lust.
@Background Pony
I don’t think merely wanting things counts as greed, it’s when you want them just to have them (because they’re valuable) rather than for any kind of use that it becomes greed.
@Background Pony
Sometimes she does just want them to add to her outfits, and other times she actually keeps and wears them as jewelry, like the fire ruby (and there was jewelry in the dragon’s stash too that she was putting on and wearing, lots of it). Wanting them for their monetary value or not though is irrelevant, they’re still things she covets and that’s greed. Same with wanting power/status. Money was never a reason for her to want to marry Blueblood, but status was. Rarity dreams, or used to dream about being royalty–being a princess and being adored. Desire for power and influence is still considered greed, definitely not lust. That’s why lust would fit Spike better than it does her, my whole and only point.
@Ferrotter
I’m not sure if wrath really fits Twilight much better than it could be said for some of the others but it can work and envy is definitely the best for Fluttershy when you break it down like that. Well reasoned.
I might give you Dragonshy, but all over the show, Rarity has only wanted gems to use on her clothing, not for their monetary value.
TBNE is another case. Attention =/= money, in fact, money was never mentioned between her reasons to get Blueblood, the main one was finding a decent suitor.
@supermanhulkjesus
That’s because everyone is mixing things up by ignoring quiet little Fluttershy. Twilight Sparkle is Wrath, not Envy. Who scraped her hoof and charged Nightmare Moon with her horn? Who turned into a blazing Rapidash because she couldn’t understand Pinkie Sense? Who blew her house three stories off the ground because Spike told her “It’s just a test”? Who smirked a self-satisfied smile of smugness while accusing Cadance of being evil? (Okay, she was right on that one. But did she have to be so vicious about it? Before she even knew Cadance wasn’t Cadance, too.) And who came close to killing the actual Cadance before Cadance did the sunshine sunshine ladybugs awake thing? Twilight’s Wrath. It’s not even close.
Whereas Fluttershy, who would like to be a tree, would like to be a better flyer, would like to be more assertive, who basically would like to be an earth pony, who’s constantly trying to be everything she’s not (though admittedly she’s pretty good at it), and who would really really like the animals of the royal garden to like her as they like Celestia…she’s the one who’s Envy.
@supermanhulkjesus
And yet, she can cast with no effort a spell she’s never used before that alters the physical density of herself and three others after only looking in a book.
