Top Ten Unicorns, Version 3 · 5:05pm Nov 1st, 2016
We had a couple of new unicorns introduced to us this season, so I think it's time to update the list again. Here's the second version, from the end of Season 5. Time to find who made it onto the list this time around!
10. Coriander Cumin
Why he was added: "Spice Up Your Life" was truly saved from bombing thanks to the restuarant owner and his daughter, especially when Zesty Gourmand was an insulting strawman critic (can we not use those, please? Strawmaning the critic is a trend that needs to die already!) and Rarity was painfully stupid in trying to please said strawman. Coriander may be a bit of a pessamist, especially compared to his daughter, but at least he has something of an excuse for trying to please Zesty, sometimes you have to accept certain realities if you want to succeed, even if that means scarificing your original vision (as the Star Wars prequels showed, sometimes an artist's original vision isn't always the best, there are times when that vision needs to be checked).
9. Party Favor
Why he stayed the same: Party Favor had enough of a screen time presence in "To Where And Back Again" to justify being included, even though now it seems he has unfortunately lost that shipping war with Cheese Sandwich for Pinkie Pie. Granted, I think Pinkie is a little too energetic for someone like Party Favor, he needs someone more on his level like Sugar Belle or Minuette. Heck, I recall at least one fanfic that tripped to ship him with Moondancer of all ponies, don't know if it's still around though.
8. Minuette a.k.a Colgate
Why she moved down: The writers and animators clearly need to think through their cameos more than they do if "It's Gonna Work" is any indication. Because Minuette shouldn't be snobbing a restuarant that Pinkie Pie is trying to promote. And sadly, that was her only cameo this season. It would be really nice for her to appear again next season, or at least get a better cameo than the one she got this season.
7. Saffron Masala
Why she was added: Saffron was undeniably the best thing about "Spice Up Your Life" even if she is a bit of a stereotypical rebellious Indian teenage daughter. She has a unique design, a nice voice, and it's impressive to see that she's the cook and her father waits on customers, instead of the other way around. Though I do have to question one thing: How is hiding the ingredients you don't want to work with any better than only cooking what you think you have to cook to succeed? It's fine if you have certain ingredients you don't like to use often, but I think a chef is supposed to be able to work with any ingredients no matter what, not just the ones they want to work with.
6. Moondancer
Why she moved down: Kind of a bummer we didn't get even a cameo from Moondancer this season, especially when she got one in "The Cutie Re-Mark". I really do hope she'll at least pop up in the IDW comics Friends Forever series, though another appearance from her would be nice (it would give Kazumi Evans something to do besides just be Rarity's singing double). With one more newcomer making their way onto the list in addition to Saffron and Coriander, Moondancer had to be moved down to make room.
5. Rarity
Why she moved down: Ouch, what a fall from grace! This is the first time Rarity has not been in the number one spot on this list, which just shows how much damage Season 6 did to her character! If hogging all the screen time in the first half of the season didn't hurt her, her insulting potrayals in "Spice Up Your Life", "The Cart Before The Ponies", and "P.P.O.V. (Pony Point Of View)" certainly did, to say nothing of how shoe horned in she was in "Gift of The Maud Pie" and how little she got to do in "Applejack's 'Day' Off" and "The Saddle Row Review" (it's really saying something when a Rarity episode is remembered more for what her friends did). It's especially sad because Rarity is supposedly Josh Haber's favorite pony, so is it that under his watch Rarity was treated to her worst outings since the early days of Season 1, when the show was struggling to find its identity and how to handle Rarity? Rarity really needs better potrayals in Season 7, but if Michael Vogel is at the helm that could be trouble if he hasn't learned from "Spice Up Your Life" and "The Cart Before The Ponies". Meghan isn't much better, she wrote "Green Isn't Your Color" and "Sweet and Elite", which weren't very good Rarity outings. But at the same time she rejected the original version of "Spike At Your Service" because she thought Rarity came across as too mean spirited, so maybe she's better at editing Rarity episodes then she is at writing them?
4. Starlight Glimmer
Why she moved up: It's kind of hard to say if Starlight really deserves to be this high up, but I think "To Where And Back Again" justifies it enough. I still don't think it was really in the show's best interests to redeem Starlight Glimmer, and it seems they weren't really prepared for the backlash they got as a result. Starlight's absence and "Every Little Thing She Does" didn't exactly do her any favors, and Season 6's biggest fault is definitely skipping over much of Starlight's reformation. "The Crystalling" and "No Second Prances" pretty much confirmed they weren't going to show her earning the mane seven's trust, though both episodes rightfully understood Starlight could be a multi-level character and not just a unicorn Twilight 2.0 like "Every Little Thing She Does" seemed to treat her. Thankfully, "To Where And Back Again" freed Starlight from regressing back into this kind of character, and hopefully in Season 7 they'll address the events of the finale more readily instead of just glancing over them.
3. Sunburst
Why he was added: Though he did end up kind of becoming a male Moondancer, Sunburst proved to an entertaining enough character and he was even kind of adorable at times. His absence in the finale was a big waste of opportunity, especially since I ship him with Starlight, instead of shipping Starlight with Trixie. Trixie is a performer and she travels all over Equestria, and since Starlight seems to still have issues, I don't think she's ready for a relationship with someone who's always on the road (heck, Trixie would be better suited to Cheese Sandwich since they're both travelling performers. In case you're wondering why Trixie isn't on this list, I'm a little worried the writers are trying to turn her into the next Discord for Twilight, and they'd better not be going that route. I'm also getting tired of her saying "Great and Powerful" simply for the sake of fanservice, that doesn't exactly make her look good). While Starburst could be a long distance relationship, either one could move closer to the other in a heartbeat if needed (though Starlight would probably much sooner find it possible to move to the Crystal Empire, since Sunburst is Flurry Heart's crystaller and seems to be in charge of watching over her). I really do hope Sunburst isn't being replaced by Trixie simply because Trixie is more popular and more of a fan favorite. Remember folks, he was the reason behind Starlight's motivation to be a villain.
2. Shining Armor
Why he moved up: While "The Crystalling" early on made too many jokes at his expense about him being unprepared for fatherhood, the rest of the season proved to be a huge step in the right direction for Shining Armor. He got to be a lot more serious and really stepped up to take charge here, leading the evacuation of The Crystal Empire and organizing the patrols for the changeling scare. While I would've liked to see if he still harbors any kind of a grudge against Chrysalis for what happened at his wedding, and his comment about how "There's no such thing as a nice changeling" may have been racist, Season 6 hopefully finally silenced all of Shining Armor's critics who say he has no character. I just hope Season 7 doesn't reset this remarkable display of character.
1. Sweetie Belle
Why she moved up: Though she wasn't in the focus for any of the CMC's episodes this season, Sweetie Belle continued to show how great she's been since she moved on from being the ditz in Season 1 and early Season 2. It's just too bad the show didn't treat her big sister with the same amount of love, this was the first season in which Rarity forgot the one lesson she's been the most consistent in remembering, listening to her little sister and considering what she wants. Interestingly, this season also remembered Sweetie Belle's parents, they were giving her and her fellow crusaders a sleigh ride at the start of "A Hearth's Warming Tail" and Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were singing alongside them at the end. Scootaloo may still be the crusader who needs more screen time and focus episodes, but Sweetie Belle could also benefit from focusing on the crusaders as individuals and not as a group. And here's hoping Season 7 will do just that.
And there you have it, come back tomorrow when we take a look at the top ten stallions.
For me, Starlight Glimmer is so good that she's all ten places at once.
4280233 That's a bit extreme. I really like Pinkie Pie, yet even I didn't have her be in all ten spots for the Top Ten Earth Ponies.
4280240 She's the only character I like more than Cheese Sandwich, who I loved a lot.
Plus, I can't really pick my top 9 unicorns out of the others, since the order of them switches on my mood and which episodes I've watched most recently.
Here's my top five Unicorns:
1: Rarity
2: Shining Armor
3: Sunburst
4: Starlight Glimmer
5: Moondancer