Top Ten Earth Ponies List, Version 6.2 (The Best Gift Ever Version) · 4:14pm Nov 3rd, 2018
This is among the lists getting a bit of an update after "The Best Gift Ever", that's really all there is to say. There is one newcomer to consider, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised where he ends up. Here's version 6, from the end of Season 8. Let's see who moved up, moved down, got added, or dropped off. Before we begin, we have some honorable mentions (and they are: Quibble Pants, Tender Taps, Apple Bloom, Applejack, Granny Smith, Grand Pear, Pipsqueak, Countess Coloratura a.k.a Rara, Double Diamond, Filthy Rich, Babs Seed, Cheerilee a.k.a Miss Cheerilee, Mud Briar, Cat Tail, Kettle Corn, Star Tracker, and Coco Pommel). As always, this list is purely the result of my personal opinion.
10. Diamond Tiara
Why she moved down to the bottom: All it will take to knock Diamond Tiara to the honorable mentions will be for one more newcomer to join the ranks next time around or for either Applejack, Apple Bloom, or any of the honorable mentions featured above to have a memorable appearance next season. At this point, I think it's safe to say that Diamond Tiara is gone and is never coming back to the show. A shame really, they put all that effort into reforming her and made her more popular, and then they just forgot about her entirely.
9. Bright Macintosh a.k.a Bright Mac
Why he moved down: Rockhoof's likely permanent placeholder (barring a major return to form for the pillars in Season 9), he's moving down to make room for a newcomer. I still think he has a better chance of appearing again in the show compared to Pear Butter or Grand Pear, since he's voiced by Bill Newton, a Vancouver VA.
8. Cheese Sandwich
Why he moved down: Cheese Sandwich also seems unlikely to ever come back in any big way, aside from perhaps a non-speaking cameo like he got in the movie. Weird Al isn't just performing these days, he's also doing voice work for Milo Murphy's Law the spiritual successor to Phineas and Ferb (I really should try to see the former one of these days, I've heard good things about it). So unless they could find time in his busy schedule, I don't think the show staffers are likely to ever consult him for Cheese Sandwich.
7. Maud Pie
Why she moved down: Along with the rest of the Pie sisters, Maud was just there in "The Best Gift Ever" and in actuality Marble was laughing at her rock joke. But Maud is starting to become played out, she's the only Pie sister who's gotten any major development or come anywhere close to being a reoccurring character. Now that she has a boyfriend, I think they have the perfect in-universe excuse to give her character a rest. Besides, I can't be the only one who'd like to see more development on Limestone and especially Marble (who remains pretty much just a poor man's Fluttershy).
6. Limestone Pie
Why she moved down: If not for her outstanding performance in "The Maud Couple" Limestone wouldn't even be on the list at all this time around, because she got nothing at all in "The Best Gift Ever". I don't see why she or Maud or even Marble couldn't have mentioned the gift givers instead of Pinkie going to Yakyakistan, that just felt like something done for the sake of the plot. Odds are she won't be on the list next time around.
5. Pistachio
Why he was added: I like how we got a country pony who's not a country stereotype. It's so easy to paint country folk as dumb, ignorant, backwards, and unknowledgeable when it comes to things like fashion or science. So Pistachio is a breath of fresh air in a show that has reduced Applejack at times to a country stereotype when it needs a conflict. Also, I'm going to assume that his parents were voiced by Patton Oswalt and his wife, since I can't think of any other roles they might have had in the special that would define them. Unless they were going to be in the special and then got cut or ultimately couldn't make it to Vancouver to record (or maybe the entire Patton Oswalt comment was a mistake, like how they told us Spike was gonna sing a song with his dad or the CMC would save the day).
4. Pinkie Pie
Why she moved up: I really can't put her too much higher, since while she did fine in "The Best Gift Ever" it wasn't enough to completely erase what happened to her in "Yakity Sax". I'm actually kind of surprised the solution to the pudding fiasco wasn't just to turn Pinkie loose and let her eat it all up, but I suppose since it was magical pudding it was going to keep growing and brewing until the counter ingredients were added. And you know, between meeting the magical reindeer and coming down the chimney at the start of "Hearthbreakers" I have to ask, is Pinkie Pie secretly the pony equivalent of Santa Clause? Because if so that would explain a lot (she probably isn't but you never know).
3. Mage Meadowbrook
Why she stayed the same: From here on out the list doesn't change. Even if none of the characters from this point onward spoke or appeared in "The Best Gift Ever", their presence elsewhere justifies keeping them on the list. For Mage Meadowbrook, it's the fact that she always felt the most real of all the pillars, the one that had the most chance of being something other than just a legend. And it's really not surprising she would have little trouble adapting to the modern world, not only does she have Cat Tail, a descendant of hers, but her talent also is still very much in demand in the modern world (there's always a need for healers).
2. Big Macintosh a.k.a Big Mac
Why he stayed the same: I don't mind that he didn't get to speak in "The Best Gift Ever" it wasn't a story about him and he didn't have the screen time that would warrant a speaking role. It's just nice that he's able to speak more often now, whereas outside of his first big appearance in Season 1 he'd always been a "Eeyup" or "Eenope" character barring the occasional joke or role reversal. Again, having only one episode to himself this season is ultimately what kept him from the number one spot.
1. Pear Butter a.k.a Buttercup
Why she stayed on the top: Honestly, there isn't much to say that I haven't already said about her. With Pear Butter, there's just so much that draws you to her, and I've already talked a great length about all of it. Her voice, her personality, even the tough decision she had to make that she rather wouldn't have wanted to make. And it's still heartbreaking to realize that she and her father never patched things up. Maybe after Season 9 she'll be out of the number one spot, but for now, like with the last two times I did this list, she's in the top spot by a good margin.
And there you have it. Come back tomorrow, when we'll update the Top Ten Pegasi list.
My list pretty much stayed the same