Top Ten Mares, Version 3 · 4:27pm Nov 3rd, 2016
It took some consideration to decide who to include, but I think there will be enough changes to justify a third version of this list. Surprisingly, Season 6, at least early on, a lot more strong male characters than female characters. Here's the second version. Let's see who made this list time around.
10. Stormy Flare
Why she moved down: Stormy Flare is largely a placeholder since while I did consider Hoofer Steps (the dance class teacher) like Tender Taps she was only relevant for the last third of "On Your Marks" and unlike Tender Taps she wasn't mentioned by name (I like the headcanon idea that she's Tender Taps' aunt though). Stormy Flare didn't make any appearances this season or get mentioned, which is kind of a bummer considering all the potential she has. Surely a line or two referencing her could've been worked into "Newbie Dash" or "Top Bolt".
9. Sassy Saddles
Why she moved down: Sassy also didn't get a mention this season, which is also a shame. I really do want to see more of her because "Rarity Investigates" shows she can play off of Rarity quite well. But I would also like to see her interacting with Coco, the tow could learn a lot from each other. I had considered writing a fanfic this year where Sassy Saddles has to foalsit Sweetie Belle for Rarity, but that idea got placed on the backburner due to other fics taking longer to come out than I thought.
8. Countess Coloratura a.k.a Rara
Why she was added: Between Svengallop's nasty and petiness, Pinkie Pie's antics, and Applejack getting one of her strongest performances in a lead role, it's easy to forget Rara was a major character of focus for "The Mane Attraction", but at least one group is still doing stuff with her and she hasn't died down in popularity at all. I believed I mentioned before how some people noticed how as Countess Coloratura her mane and tail looked similar to Sonata Dusk's hair from "Rainbow Rocks", still waiting on that pony who the fandom says looks like Adagio Dazzle (everyone was commenting how Starlight in "The Cutie Map" looked like Aria Blaze).
7. Spitfire
Why she moved down: Poor Spitfire, just when it seemed like the fandom was ready to forgive her and move on from "Rainbow Falls" along came "Newbie Dash" and "Top Bolt" to make her look bad again. Sure, the events that happened in both episodes weren't her fault, but she still does harbor some blame for what ultimately transpires. In "Newbie Dash" she could've easily explained to Rainbow Dash about the jackets, rather than expect Rainbow Dash to figure it out for herself (and personally the stuff with the jacket was going too far, constantly reminding someone of their failures isn't going to motivate them to do better). And in "Top Bolt" I really hate to be redundant but she should've been able to notice what Vapor Trail was doing because it was happening in broad daylight, with no clouds or other ponies in sight. It's not like Lightning Dust where Spitfire had legitimate reasons to not notice her reckless behavior. And even if it was a joke, the comment about how Spitfire loves yelling and blowing her whistle certainly didn't make her look any better in the eyes of the fandom. Interestingly, "Newbie Dash" and "Top Bolt" were the first times we've seen Spitfire without any sort of clothes on (before this she's always been in either her Wonderbolts suit, her academy outfit, or the Team Cloudsdale attire).
6. Mrs. Cake a.k.a Cup Cake
Why she moved down: Mrs. Cake only got brief speaking roles in "On Your Marks", "No Second Prances", and "28 Pranks Later" (which is odd as she was never shown to be the victim of Rainbow Dash's pranks, and her husband wasn't present during the massive zombie prank even though Rainbow Dash put a brick in his sandwich), and a non speaking cameo in "Where The Apple Lies" (which begs the question of what her name was before she married Carrot Cake). Sadly, while she was good in "On Your Marks" and gave a wonderful performance as a zombie in "28 Pranks Later", her biggest role was in "No Second Prances" when she snapped at Starlight for using her magic to bake a cake, simply because she thought Starlight was trying to put her out of business (even though there was nothing to indicate that was the case). Mrs. Cake has usually been rather saint like and kind to everypony, so for her to snap at someone who's friends with Pinkie Pie feels a little OOC for her. Hopefully next season she'll get better roles.
5. Granny Smith
Why she moved up: If "Where The Apple Lies" did anything well, it was Granny Smith. Apparently she's been running Sweet Apple Acres for years, and despite her old age she's still going strong. And apparently, she's also responsible for keeping Filthy Rich in line, as he seems to be very afraid of angering her. It's unknown if her threat to tell his grandfather when he tries to make an unfair deal or exploit the Apples still holds any water, or if he's simply just afraid of angering Granny Smith at all, but it really does speak volumes when it seems like Granny Smith is responsible for making sure Filthy doesn't end up like Spoiled.
4. Night Glider
Why she moved down: Though she got to speak in "To Where And Back Again" she was still unnamed except in the credits (though to be fair I don't think any of the equal four were mentioned by name that time). Apparently, Night Glider is now in charge of fireworks, at least for the village's celebrations. I suppose this means Party Favor and Sugar Belle don't know any kinds of spells that can light fuses (or perhaps they were just busy with other duties and couldn't lend a hoof). Like before, I have to wonder if there were any sort of legal issues with her name that prevented her from being mentioned by name in "The Cutie Map"?
3. Sugar Belle
Why she moved down: It's not known how much better of a chef Sugar Belle has become since we last saw her, and it's a shame that as the equal four have faded in popularity and attention, she still remains the one who was shipped the least (though I did recall seeing one fic shipping her and Double Diamond). Still, at least the fandom animation "Party of Four" remembered her (pairing her up with Party Favor and Pinkie Pie with Cheese Sandwich).
2. Cheerilee a.k.a Miss Cheerilee
Why she returned: "The Cart Before The Ponies" was a glorious return to the spotlight for Cheerilee. Both as a teacher, and as a cheerleader. I'm not kidding, the fandom went nuts for cheerleader Cheerilee (or Cheerileader as the fandom dubbed her) and it's not very hard to see why. She also got a glorious cameo in "28 Pranks Later", in probably one of Rainbow Dash's more harmless pranks. Whether or not she'll get as much love in Season 7 has yet to be seen, but here's to hoping for more great roles from her after Seasons 4 and 5 treated her like a background pony.
1. Moondancer
Why she stayed the same: Even now that Trixie has come back and developed into something beyond a Twilight Sparkle foil and Starlight and Sunset have grown as characters, Moondancer still holds a great deal of popularity and I think her and Twilight as a ship are still going strong. Hopefully, even if she doesn't get another appearance in the show anytime soon (and I really hope she does get a role, even a background role like in "The Cutie Re-Mark" would be nice) she can at least be included in the IDW comics. her and her Canterlot friends are ripe for stories big and small alike.
And there you have it, come back tomorrow when we take a look at the Top Ten Colts and Fillies.
Here's my top five:
1: Twilight Sparkle
2: Princess Luna
3: Spitfire
4: Princess Celestia
5: Moondancer
4283407 I don't include the princesses or the mane six/seven (Spike doesn't count since he's not a mare) on this list, and neither do I include background ponies.
4283410 What about Moondancer? Surely she counts as a background pony seeing as how she hasn't had a appearance since "Amedning Fences".
Since we're not counting the mane 6/7, my top list is as follows:
1. Spitfire
2. Mrs. Cake
3. Night Glider
4. Sugar Belle
5. Granny Smith
6. Rara
The rest constantly shuffle around.
4283412 Moondancer's a secondary character, since she was the focus for at least one episode and played a big part in it.
4283418 Then who do you exactly count as a background character? Princess Celestia? (Sorry if that sounds rude, I'm just curious here.)
4283423 Ponies that first appeared in the background and for the most part have been confined to the background.
4283431 Ah, I got ya.