Top Ten Earth Ponies, Version 4 · 6:18pm Oct 30th, 2016

Here's the third version, from the end of Season 5. Let's see who stayed, who moved up, who moved down, and who left. And of course, since there's only room for ten some of the earth ponies that didn't make the cut here can be considered honorable mentions (they are as follows: Countess Coloratura a.k.a Rara, Double Diamond, Filthy Rich, Babs Seed, and Coco Pommel).

10. Apple Bloom
Why she moved down: Ouch, poor Apple Bloom fell hard here! I don't hate her, but as "On Your Marks" made painfully obvious Apple Bloom has gotten way too much exposure and very little development, and much like her big sister she isn't very good at holding the spotlight on her own. I get that she was the first of the CMC to be introduced and was the reason they came together, but by now Sweetie Belle and especially Scootaloo are begging for more focus as individuals, instead of Apple Bloom continuing to get more and more focus episodes even to the point where she had more than Fluttershy this season, more than an actual member of the mane seven/eight.

9. Applejack
Why she moved down: You would think that with Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and arguably even Rarity and Fluttershy completing their character arcs, the writers would now have time to work on Applejack and make her into something besides the straight mare so she doesn't have to constantly have her flaws exaggerated in her focus episodes. Sadly, that isn't the case, and even when playing off of someone else in this season Applejack still more often than not got bad outings such as in "The Cart Before The Ponies" or "P.P.O.V. (Pony Point Of View)". As I said in my previous blog, now the writers can't even make up their minds about Applejack's honesty and whether it's a defining trait of her or not. Maybe if Cindy Morrow comes back in the next season it might be possible for Applejack to do better, Cindy always seemed to among the better writers for Applejack.

8. Cheerilee
Why she was added: After Seasons 4 and 5 reduced Cheerilee to a background pony, it was nice to see Season 6 reverse the trend and give her a bigger role for a change. Heck, cheerleader Cheerilee was arguably the only good thing about "The Cart Before The Ponies", her eye rolling perfectly sums up my reaction to the behavior of three of our main characters in that episode. And it was great to see her actually having a role that amounted to something for a change, as opposed to her just standing there and doing nothing. Here's hoping for more Cheerilee roles like "The Cart Before The Ponies" in Season 7.

7. Diamond Tiara
Why she stayed the same: I did consider putting Diamond Tiara higher, but she didn't do anything at all this season which is a major disappointment after they went through all that trouble of redeeming her. I mean come on, her own mother got two episodes for crying out loud and only one of them even tried to make her even remotely less petty and bland. Diamond Tiara really should've been the focus of "The Cart Before The Ponies" Filthy or Spoiled Rich would be much more likely to make the mistake of forgetting the derby's not about them as opposed to the CMC's big sisters who should know better. It only gets worse when she got a blurry out of focus cameo in "The Fault In Our Cutie Marks", as if it didn't even matter that she existed. Writers, you redeemed Diamond Tiara, so now the least you can do is put her in the spotlight a little more often, her redemption made her more popular so there's no excuse for neglecting her.

6. Maud Pie
Why she moved down: I hate to do this to you, Maud. You were still pretty good in "Gift of The Maud Pie", especially when we got that little tidbit about 'Maud Sense' that may run in the family. But after four episodes and three consecutive seasons of appearances, Maud is kind of starting to dry up as a character, and it doesn't help that her interactions with Rarity in "Gift of The Maud Pie" were pretty one note since Rarity had nothing to do in the story (the IDW comics would do it better). If they do bring back Maud, they need to do something else with her besides just having her be with Pinkie, maybe use her in a detective story with Rarity or Twilight?

5. Big Macintosh
Why he moved down: After finally being freed from just being a "Eeyup"/"Eenope" character last season, Big Mac sadly regressed back to his old ways this season. With the exception of a joke in "No Second Prances" and the flashback in "Where The Apple Lies", he was still a silent character. Yes, it was nice to see his friendship with Spike, but I would've liked it if he could've spoken a little more in "Dungeons and Discord". And the attempt at explaining why he became the silent one in "Where The Apple Lies" doesn't make a whole lot of sense, as he did indeed try to talk Applejack out of constantly lying and told her why her plans weren't going to work, he just phrased it in his own snobbish way.

4. Tender Taps
Why he was added: Poor old Tender Taps, maybe if he'd been the focus of "On Your Marks" from the start instead of just getting thrust into it abruptly in the last third or so, he would fair better amongst the fandom. As it stands, he's largely been forgotten which is a shame considering all the potential he had. You wanna know why I can buy him having stage fright and not Fluttershy, because Tender Taps is a kid and it's natural for kids at that age to have a little bit of performance anxiety, whereas Fluttershy has saved Equestria multiple times and has stood up to the spirit of chaos and disharmony all on her own, it doesn't make sense for her to be able to do all that and still have performance anxiety. Perhaps the only thing with Tender Taps to find fault with, is that bit about him thinking his cutie mark will involve dancing, that's a little too on the nose for the audience that he's the cutie mark problem Apple Bloom is looking for.

3. Cheese Sandwich
Why he stayed the same: CheesePie is still a strong ship and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, but as I said in the previous ranking of earth ponies, his appeal has kind of worn off in the wake of Party Favor in "The Cutie Map" and Minuette in "Amending Fences", and while CheesePie seems to have come out the winner of the ship war between it and PartyPie (though perhaps PartyPie might see a resurgence in popularity now that Party Favor has popped up again), there's still the fact that Cheese hasn't appeared, not even in the IDW Comics. Though at least this season gave us a nod to him in the form of Pinkie Pie having a picture of him in a wallet (make of that what you will).

2. Quibble Pants
Why he was added: I don't know if Quibble would've been anywhere near as enjoyable or hilarious as he was, if Patton Oswalt hadn't voiced him. Patton shined perfectly in the role, and it was especially good that they showed his criticisms weren't to be dismissed and that he wasn't just some straw man fan critic to be dismissed and ignored. For a while it looked like he might end up in a shipping war between himself, Soarin, and Zephyr Breeze over Rainbow Dash, but that quickly died down and was forgotten about. I don't know if we'll see Quibble Pants again anytime soon though, while Weird Al has expressed interest in returning, Patton's wife passed away back in April (Patton probably already recorded his lines by that point), and Patton has announced he's been turning his attention to his wife's unfinished non-fiction novel she was working on.

1. Pinkie Pie
Why she stayed the same: Four times in a row Pinkie has stayed on top, and while it was a little harder for her this time in comparison to Season 5, she still held onto the top spot without much competition. There's not much I can really say about her that I haven't already said before, though hopefully if Meghan returns to the editor's seat for Season 7, she won't undo the good writing that's been given to Pinkie Pie these past two seasons. Pinkie has been a weak spot for Meghan ever since the start of Season 3, which is a shame considering she wrote "Party of One" which remains one of Pinkie's best outings. As for Michael Vogel, if he takes over I think he won't have trouble with Pinkie Pie, he wrote her well in "A Hearth's Warming Tail" and "Spice Up Your Life". Pinkie Pie is a character he seems to understand, it's Rarity and Starlight he might not be cut out for (and possibly Spike and the princesses as well if "To Where And Back Again" is any indication).

And there you have it, come back tomorrow when we take a look at the top ten pegasi.

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