Top Ten Pegasi, Version 3 · 1:45am Dec 9th, 2015
Just like with the earth ponies, the time has come to do another top ten list for the pegasi. Just like with the earth ponies, Here's the second version, pushed out after Season 4 had just ended. Let's see who's staying, who's leaving, who's joining, who's moving up, and who's moving down. There weren't that many pegasi introduced this season though, at least in terms of memorable ones.
10. Stormy Flare
Why she was added: Of the two new characters introduced to us in "Rarity Investigates", Stormy Flare was definitely the better one. Spitfire's mother, and it's obvious where her daughter gets her looks from, her relationship with her daughter seems to be very strong, considering what little we saw of it. It's quite a shame that she hasn't gotten a lot of love in fanfics, only one fanfic has included her to my knowledge, and with the potential she has, that's quite disappointing. Hopefully, that will change by the time of Season 6.
9. Dizzy Twister a.k.a Orange Swirl
Why she was added: Even if she didn't make any major cameo appearances in Season 5 at any point (though we did see a pegasus stallion that looks surprisingly similar to Scootaloo at the end of "Tanks For The Memories"), Dizzy Twister has grown on me, and quite a few other fanfic writers as Scootaloo's bilogical mother. I only wished I'd know about her sooner, or I might have included her in the original version, and possibly had her replace Fleetfoot in the second version.
8. Daring Do a.k.a A. K. Yerling
Why she moved down: Daring Do wasn't in Season 5 at all, and we only got to seee a Daring Do book in one episode for a brief moment. G. M. Berrow has written a few books based on Daring Do, but to my knowledge there's only been three, and the proposed fourth has yet to materialize. Her appeal in fanfics has largely dropped off, probably as a result of not appearing in the show. Since her V.A. tweeted Daring Do will return in Season 6, it's likely that Daring Do will rank higher the next time around.
7. Spitfire
Why she moved down: Poor Spitfire was absent for almost all of "Rarity Investigates", to the point where even her mother had more screen time than her. And Spitfire's voice seemed to sound kind of off compared to even her usual consistent delivery since Season 3. All she really did was kick Wind Ryder out of The Wonderbolts, and ask Rainbow Dash if she wanted to take his place. A slightly better potrayal than "Rainbow Falls", but only on the levels of "Wonderbolt Academy", and this kind of raises concerns that Spitfire may not be aware of just how deep corruption and bad behavior spread in The Wonderbolts. She really needs an episode that can redeem her character.
6. Night Glider
Why she was added: You all knew she was going to make an appearance on this list at some point, after all she won a poll on Equestria Daily for best of the equal four in the premiere. Considering the fact that she's voiced by Rebecca Shoichet, and seemed to be a sort of poor man's Rainbow Dash, it's no wonder why she's so popular, though she's only really been shipped with Double Diamond for some odd reason. Much like Double Diamond and the rest of the equal four, Night Glider deserved to have that scene in "The Cutie Re-Mark" expanded. But out of all the equal four, she was the only one never mentioned by name, and the last of the four to be introduced (we first met Party Favor, then Double Diamond, and then Sugar Belle). There's a headcanon circulating that she is the twin sister of Fleetfoot, though I can't say for certain how popular it is.
5. Derpy
Why she moved down: I really hate to do this to Derpy, considering she had a wonderful potrayal in "Slice of Life" as a well meaning pony that always seems to get into trouble through reasons beyond her control. And her voice was definitely cute (though her accent takes a bit of getting used to). Heck, Derpy was arguably THE character of focus for "Slice of Life". But outside of that and an impressive cameo in "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?", she was surprisingly absent (probably because Starlight Glimmer took up the role of cameo appearances, in place of Derpy) for Season 5, and to avoid controversy, Hasbro and DHX had to call her "Muffins". But to me, she'll always be Derpy.
4. Scootaloo
Why she moved down: Once again, I really hate to do this, but Scootaloo only really got the B-plot of "Brotherhooves Social" to shine as an individual character. Yes, she was part of the impressive CMC episode "Crusaders of The Lost Mark", and she got to join her fellow crusaders on stage at the end of "The Mane Attraction", but she was also part of the disastorus CMC potrayal in "Appleloosa's Most Wanted", and we got no clarification about her parents, they were seemingly absent for her cutecenera (though Sweetie Belle's parents also seemed to be absent for some reason). If there was ever a time to knock down the theory of Scootaloo being an orphan, that cutecenera was the perfect time to do it. I'm pretty sure Hasbro and DHX don't consider Scootaloo an orphan, but we still know little about her. She probably deserves to have more focus episodes to rectify that problem.
3. Soarin
Why he moved up: "Rarity Investigates" was very much a dime in the limelight for Soarin, since Spitfire was absent until the very end. The episode seemed to confirm that in regards to the chain of command for The Wonderbolts, Soarin is second only to Spitfire, and likely Co-Captain as a result. We got to see him step out of his usual goofy, nice guy demanor in order to become someone much more serious, and I quite liked it. I would've liked it even better if he'd been willing to cut Rainbow Dash a little slack, and not instantly suspect she'd intentionally send Spitfire away (he of all ponies should've known Rainbow Dash well enough to know she would never do such a thing). And it seems that love of pie is far deeper than just because he's a big eater (and a messy eater at that), it seems that eating pie is his way of coping with stressful situations (I guess all those stunts he does helps him avoid putting on weight).
2. Rainbow Dash
Why she stayed the same: Much like Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash got some very solid potrayals in Season 5, despite not having as many focus episodes. She finally seemed to mature and tone down her hotheadedness after Season 2 spent so much time dialing it up to uncomfortable levels (Seasons 3 and 4 started to cool her off, but she still occasionally slipped back into her jerkish ways). "Tanks For The Memories" wasn't exactly the best way of showing this, but it did speak volumes about her character considering she used to avoid showing a lot of public affection for her pet, and now cared enough that she didn't want to be without him, even if it was only for a few months. "Rarity Investigates" gave her the chance to be the straight mare for once, and "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone" treated us to an adorable flashback of her as a filly. But the season finale raises some concerns that she may go on another ego trip, though I'm hopeful that won't be the case. She came pretty close to taking number 1 this time around, but she just couldn't quite make it.
1. Fluttershy
Why she stayed the same: This time, it was probably really hard to decide whether or not Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash should switch places, especially after Fluttershy had "Scare Master" in the second half of Season 5. But I'm willing to reluctantly look past that disappointing reset of her growth for her only solo focus episode, in favor of the outstanding growth she showed throughout the rest of the season. Telling Rainbow Dash her winter would be petless, standing up to Discord, joining the fights against the Bug Bear and the Tanterbus, and explaining how the fighting started between the two families. All of these scenes showcased what I've always said about Fluttershy, she is at her best when she remembers her character growth instead of backpeadling from it. Hopefully, this trend won't be reversed in Season 6. In fact, I want Fluttershy to get a focus episode in Season 6 that DOESN'T reset her character growth. There are still problems you will face, even after you learn to assert yourself. That's where the moral starts, not where it ends.
I'd have RD at 1 for character development (Tanks for the Memories was RD's first major emotional display that she didn't try to immediately hide) and Scootaloo at 2 (I found RD telling Scootaloo that she's so proud of her to be more emotional than the confirmation that AJ and AB's parents are dead), but otherwise I'd probably keep the rest in order.
I definitely agree there.
Heck, I think Scootaloo deserves to have three episodes in a row dedicated to her more than any member of the mane 6.
One to reveal the true fate of her parents (it's about time for this to get revealed, though I'd argue that her being an orphan is, sadly, the most likely outcome at this point.)
One to reveal why she looks up to RD so much.
And one where she finally manages to successfully fly in reality.
3603881 Those all need to happen. Now more than ever.