Discuss.

5938433

As cute as it is, it makes no sense in continuity. Rain Drops was an adult in that flashback too. Watching Derpy continually lose rank as her eyes worsened was heart breaking.

Also, Dust got her cutie mark before Rainbow.

At one point in time, Derpy beat out Lightning Dust. Let that sink in.

5938460 Raindrops was probably filler.

5938433 Hmm, makes one wonder if Dust's older brother Sky Stinger was watching?

5938460 As Seether said, her model was probably used as Crowd Filler. It's not like the show hasn't done this before after all.

5938433
Alas, I decided some time ago to rewatch the entire series before even starting to watch the new season, at a rate of an episode a day, so I knew nothing about this until now. But generally speaking, it looks to me like a feeble attempt by the show's creators to placate the Lightning fans out there. Give me an episode she stars in and I'll consider it worth observance.

5938433 Rainbow Dash is probably just imaging things, she must still feel a bit guilty about what happened to Lightning Dust and is trying to invent a reason for a pony like her to fall from grace.

Awesome. Noticed three years in a row Dust was at the top and once she fell in rank she was not happy. So I can kind of see why she worked so hard to get back to the top once she was older. The only problem with this is how many of them didn't recognize Dash later. Given I probably wouldn't remember someone from kindergarten but she's very distinctive all the same.

5938919 It's just the animators not really paying attention to continuity, background cameos seldom make coherent sense. In "Pinkie Pride" Cheerilee, Lyra, and Bon Bon, were all fillies, while Berry Punch appeared to be a fully grown adult (more likely a teenager though since Rarity looked the same in her flashback to Sweetie Belle's fifth birthday party).

I for one am just glad that the writers still acknowledge her as existing. It was worth the half-decade wait for me at least. Hopefully this means there's potential for a proper reappearance sooner rather than later.

Also filly Dust is adorable, no ifs or buts.

I also sense that there's going to be some fanfictions about Derpy's eyes getting more out-of-alignment over time and her flying ability dropping.

5938499 True Happiness You're a fan of the idea? Read my story!

5938433 So if Rainbow Dash knew her before then how come she didn't recognise her? Also Lightning must be older than Spitfire because she got her cutie mark first!