Six Truths From Discord

Rarity,
Though she's only just beginning to realize it,
Walks a T-I-G-H-T-R-O-P-E.

She's been walking it
Balancing along, suspended
Above it all
Ever since she made her first sale
At the Carousel Boutique.

And one day,
She is going
To fall.

On one side of the tightrope,
The artist.

On the other,
The businessmare.

And ne'er the two shall meet.

See,
Rarity
Takes great pride in her art.
But she also
Is her own accountant
Does her own taxes
Runs her own business
A business that's constantly growing
Eating up more and more of her time.

She's an artist at heart
But being an artist at heart
Doesn't put food on the table
(And it certainly doesn't pay for all the wine.)

And it makes her uncomfortable
Every time she has to cut a corner
Every time she has to compromise on a design
So that it can be manufactured
(A dress, manufactured! Perish the thought!)
In three locations
(Soon to be four)
(Soon to be five and six and seven)
(Soon to be in Griffonstone)
(And Yakyakistan)
(And Kludgetown and Mt. Aris and you get the idea)
By dressmakers
Who make less than she did
When she started
(Keep the margins low, darling.)

But it erodes at her
Slowly, at her artist's heart
Clawing and gnawing
And soon she will fall
One way

Or the other

From her perch on high.

Her element was generosity, you know.
That's what she used when she turned me to stone.
But she's always felt that she had to earn it
More than the others
Honesty
Comes so naturally to Applejack
Fluttershy
Always was so kind
(Even to me.)

But Rarity?
Well
She'd just have to put in the effort,
She supposed.

That becomes harder to do
When you're trying to compete
In a cutthroat market.
They'll eat her alive if she's not careful, shows
Any sign of weakness.

At what point
Does a virtue
Become a brand?
Become a selling point?
At what point are you
Just going through the motions?

Ponykind
Created a great beast
And then chained themselves to it.
And now it is in Rarity's home,
Eating Rarity's bread,
Eating Rarity.
Always eating
Chewing and Swallowing
Until it has consumed everything
And begins gnawing at its own legs.

But...

Not yet.

Rarity
Isn't there yet.

But it's coming.

She's going to trip.

She's going to fall.

One way,

Or the other,

And it won't be pretty
Either way.