Top Ten Background Ponies, Version 2 · 2:58am Dec 14th, 2015
After "Slice of Life" and "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" there was no way I could not rank the background ponies again, seeing as they got quite the chance to shine. "Amending Fences" also gave a few background ponies a chance to shine, so those three episodes alone warranted updating this list.
Here's the original version, back in the days between Seasons 3 and 4. I should mention, since Bulk Biceps a.k.a Roid Rage/Snowflake got a larger role in Seasons 4 and 5, he won't be appearing on this list again. Thunderlane can still appear, since his biggest role to date was in "Hurricane Fluttershy", and he only spoke briefly in "Rainbow Falls".
10. Berry Punch
Why she moved down: Berry Punch's obession with alcohol seemed to be confirmed in "Slice of Life" during her brief appearance in the crowd scene. And by this point, she has pretty much become defined by it. A couple of fans have written fanfics where she is Cheerilee's sister, and a few fanfics have explored her bond with Ruby Pinch, her daughter. But while she did return for "Brotherhooves Social", and did not place first thanks to Big Macintosh, she is still largely known to the fandom as the alcoholic mare. A little variety would probably be nice, considering how some of the more popular background ponies have had a few different interpretations.
9. Thunderlane
Why he moved down: Thunderlane had cameos in "Wonderbolt Academy", where he saved Rarity, and "Slice of Life" where they used his name for a bowling pun. And the fandom seems to have taken a shine to him, since he appears heavily in fics either on his own or fics where Rumble has a big role. But outside of his brief speaking role in "Rainbow Falls", he hasn't done much to stand out. And his biggest ship was with Rarity, which has pretty much died down now, though I have to wonder if any fans ever considered what that would mean for Sweetie Belle and Rumble.
8. Dizzy Twister a.k.a Orange Swirl
Why she was added: Since Bulk Biceps is no longer on this list, somepony had to take his place. Golden Harvest's (a.k.a Carrot Top's) fandom potrayals now have stopped making her the straight mare to Derpy's antics, but the most common characature of her now is that she's kind of a jerk. And as for Noteworthy, well he did get a brief speaking role in "For Whom The Sweetie Belle Toils" but that didn't do much to define him and likely could've been given to any male background character. So a fellow pegasus replaced Bulk Biceps, and although the Cloud Twins got a chance to shine as Cloudsdale's cheerleaders, they were overshadowed by the terrible writing in "Rainbow Falls", which left Dizzy Twister as the only background character that had enough appeal to be on the list. She had a brief speaking role in "Lesson Zero" as the first pony hypontized by Smarty Pants after Big Macintosh runs off with it, but despite being named Orange Swirl, the wiki lists her coat color as amber, which is a shade of yellow. I suppose it's a matter of how you look at it, though the orangeish coat color likely explains where the idea of her being Scootaloo's biological mother came from.
7. Minuette a.k.a Colgate
Why she was added: Regardless of whether they liked or hated "Amending Fences" almost everyone who saw it seems to agree that Minuette was the best of the old Canterlot gang, even beating out Moondancer in a poll on Equestria Daily, and that's saying something considering how popular Moondancer was and still is. M. A. Larson certainly made the right decision by introducing us to her first, though I feel pretty bad that Lemonhearts and Twinkleshine were overshadowed as a result. The funny thing is, Minuette and Twinkleshine actually appeared alongside Lyra way back in "A Canterlot Wedding", though that was likely not intended to represent anything, and M. A. Larson probably didn't decide to have them all be friends just because of that. Minuette also commanded attention when we learned that she and Pinkie Pie hang out often, and the two seemed to be similar in personality (though Minuette appears to be more toned down and less hyperactive). About the only thing we still don't know about her, is her profession.
6. Vinyl Scratch
Why she moved down: There's no denying that Vinyl Scratch has become really popular in the fandom, and this has not gone unnoticed by Hasbro and DHX. Vinyl Scratch was the only non main character to get her own short in the collections of shorts released priro to "Rainbow Rocks", and she was made a cruical part of the climax. Her pony counterpart got to shine in "Slice of Life", but both versions of her seem to have her as a silent character that never speaks. I believe the reason for this is because Hasbro doesn't want to anger fans who will inevitably complain if Vinyl Scratch's voice doesn't sound like Nowacking, never mind the fact that there was at least one animated fan short not featuring Nowacking as Vinyl Scratch, and several fan comic dubs not featuring Nowacking as Vinyl Scratch, and the fandom hasn't complained. As long as the voice that came out of her mouth matched her character, I wouldn't be bothered at all if it wasn't Nowacking. Sadly, I think I might be in the minority on that opinion.
5. Octavia
Why she moved up: Octavia got a brief speaking role in "Rainbow Rocks" and her pony counterpart was one of the biggest stars of "Slice of Life" alongside Derpy, Doctor Whooves, and Lyra and Bon-Bon. She's been voiced by Kazumi Evans, who seems to do an almost spot on Ellie Monty impersonation. Considering that Ellie Monty has been the voice of Octavia in most fan works, the fact that Hasbro and DHX were able to give her a similar sounding voice without attracting criticism, I see no reason why they can't try their luck with Vinyl Scratch. At the very least, "Slice of Life" confirms that Octavia and Vinyl Scratch are roommates, though whether or not OctaScratch is canon is up for debate.
4. Bon Bon a.k.a Special Agent Sweetie Drops
Why she stayed the same: Bon Bon and Lyra have among the most popular background ponies since the show's beginning, since they were among the first to appear, and the first to really be seen together. This naturally led to the insanely popular LyraBon ship, and it's almost impossible to think of a fic where the two appear and aren't shipped together. But Bon Bon commanded attention in Season 5 for actually being a secret agent under an alias, who had a personal history with the monster of the week. This was a clever way to reference the fact that Bon-Bon was originally named Sweetie Drops by Hasbro in the toyline, though whether or not this trait carries over to Bon Bon's human counterpart is unknown.
3. Lyra Heartstrings
Why she stayed the same: Between their brief cameo in "Rainbow Rocks", their major role in "Slice of Life", their cameo in "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?", and their own short in the run up to "Friendship Games" (not to mention G. M. Berrow giving them their own chapter book) I think it's safe to say that this has been the year of LyraBon (even if "Rainbow Rocks" was in 2014, and the book won't come out until 2016). At this point, I think there's more than just friendship going on with these two, and I really say Hasbro should just go ahead and make them a couple, since they appear together so much. There's more to any relationship than just hugs and kisses, and best friends can sometimes become love interests. Lyra's secret about cooking up and eating the expensive imported oats was likely intended as a reference to "Ponies With Hats" which parodied "Llamas With Hats", in which Lyra replaced the role of Carl. But Lyra also got a brief mention in "Amending Fences" when we learned that Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts, constantly go to Ponyville to see her. And she got to appear in a group photo of Twilight with her old Canterlot friends back in the day towards the end.
2. Doctor Whooves a.k.a Time Turner
Why he stayed the same: Doctor Whooves was perhaps second only to Derpy in "Slice of Life" in regards to focus and screen time. There isn't much I can say about him that I didn't already say before, and I'd hate to sound redundant. But I did like how he wasn't just the 10th Doctor of "Doctor Who" ponyfied, and that he had hints of other famous fictional scientists (one of which was American) thrown in for good measure. Peter New went on to voice a reference of another famous fictional scientist a few months later in "Littlest Pet Shop", where he lent his voice to a Doctor Frankenstien parody as Sunil Nevil. Makes me wonder what reference of a fictional scientist he'll get to voice next?
1. Derpy Hooves a.k.a Ditzy Doo/Muffins/Bubbles
Why she stayed the same: Despite not being called by name on screen, and Hasbro and DHX having to settle with "Bubbles" to avoid controversy, there's no questioning that she'll always be Derpy Hooves to the fandom. And "Slice of Life" gave her an excellent potrayal of a well meaning character that tried her hardest to fix her mistake and make it up to the ones who were affected by it. Sure, the accent Tabitha gave her was a bit distracting at times, but overall the voice was really cute and suited Derpy well. Derpy's cameo as a giant pony in "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" was just as impressive, she actually served as Spike's noble stead in the fight against the Tanterbus. Hopefully, we'll get to see more outstanding cameos, and possibly even another speaking role from Derpy in the near future. It's not likely that she'll ever come close to losing her title of best background pony, but who knows for sure?
And there you have it.
Actually, I believe Derpy's name was changed to "Muffins".
As for her voice, I think the one she had in Slice of Life fits her better than the ones she had in both versions of The Last Roundup.
As for the list as a whole, this is pretty much the exact same order I'd rank them in.
Although, I'd personally swap Lyra and Bon-Bon.
And regarding these two, it's funny:
I picked up that Andrea Libman voiced Bon-Bon on my first viewing of SoL, yet I can never tell that it's Ashleigh Ball who voices Lyra.
3617023 Well, it's a variation of her Rainbow Dash voice that she uses for Blythe Baxter in the Littlest Pet Shop cartoon done by DHX. It features a lot of the same voice acting talent, including Peter New as Sunil Nevila, Tabitha St. Germain as Pepper Clark, Shanon Chan-Kent as Youngmee and The Biskit Twins, Kathleen Bar as Mrs. Twombly, Samuel Vincent as Russel Ferguson and Fisher Biskit, Cathy Wesluck as Buttercream Bunny, and Nicole Oliver as Zoe Trent.
3617077 Ah.
The only similarity I knew was the Nicole Oliver connection, and that was only because it was mentioned in the Bronies React: Season 3 Finale video.