Another great episode has aired, and that means it's time for another Pony Spotlight. I am TheSlorg, and it is my solemn duty to ensure each pony gets a chance in the spotlight, regardless of how big a role they play in the show.
This week we have a pegasus mare who was briefly mentioned in a previous Spotlight. She was also in the latest episode. Did you see her? She saw you. She knows what you did.
It's Sassaflash, friend of Sea Swirl and Lemon Hearts! What else is there to know about her? Come check out this greatly under-rated pony below the break!
Aliases: Emerald Gem, Admiral Fairy Flight
Cutie Mark: Dual Lightning Bolts
Appearances: 62 Episodes
First Appearance: Friendship is Magic part 1
Speaking Roles: 1
Random Fact: Shippers take note. Besides established married couples, Sassaflash is the first pony to have a confirmed partner in-show. Her boyfriend? Caramel.
Beginnings
Sassaflash started out the same way most ponies did: as a foal.
Okay, that was a terrible joke. Really, though, she has been with us since the very beginning in Friendship is Magic part 1. Her role, like many others in the early days, was to be filler for crowd shots. This became especially apparent in Winter Wrap Up, where there are at least five different versions of Sassaflash shown in the episode, all identical other than mane color. Ah, the early days of MLP animation. Need a new pony? Just pick one and change its mane color. Nobody will ever notice. It's not like anyone would be writing on this very subject six years later, right?
So, as a designated background pony, what else did Sassaflash get up to? Well, she was part of Rarity's daydream about meeting Prince Blueblood in The Ticket Master, and attended Trixie's show in Boast Busters, but it was Dragonshy that gave us our first hint of personality for Sassaflash. It was this episode that first showed Sassaflash hanging out with Sea Swirl and Lemon Hearts. There would be many, many more appearances together throughout the run of the show, far more than even the more popular friendships of Lyra/Sweetie Drops or Octavia/DJPon3. But don't mistake it for shipping! She has a boyfriend. More on that, later.
Of course, the aforementioned Winter Wrap Up had all kinds of Sassaflash. Duplicates, clones, palette swaps; whatever you want to call them. All it really amounts to is establishing her as a hard worker, especially if you consider the fact that she's shown working for both the weather team and the plant team. There are also clones in Sonic Rainboom and Green Isn't Your Color, among others.
All in all, she appears in 12 of the 26 episodes that aired in season one. Despite showing up in nearly half the episodes, there really wasn't much to establish a personality just yet. She seems to enjoy Scootaloo's tricks in The Show Stoppers, and isn't too thrilled with the dresses the Mane Six came up with in Suited for Success, but that's not enough to really establish anything concrete.
Growth
Season two would more firmly establish Sassaflash's friendships with Sea Swirl and Lemon Hearts by showing the three together far more often than in season one. It would also continue the trend of having Sassaflash clones running or flying all over the place.
Sassaflash shows up often in Luna Eclipsed. Her first scene has her in the background dancing like a maniac. Seriously, she's dressed in a Cleopatra-esque costume (apparently called Emerald Gem) on her hind legs waving her forelegs around in the air. She's later one of five ponies that Princess Luna personally attempts to greet upon her return to Ponyville, though Sassaflash ends up cowering in fear.
Season two also helped establish that Sassaflash enjoys one of her best friend's pastimes: bowling! Like Sea Swirl, Sassaflash can be seen in the bowling alley in both episodes that it's been featured in. In The Cutie Pox, she seems to be on a team with the Lebowski ponies, bowling against Sea Swirl. Perhaps the two have a friendly rivalry going on?
In Hearts and Hooves Day, Sassaflash became the first pony (other than established married couples) to be confirmed to be in a relationship when she was featured in the song, The Perfect Stallion as Caramel's girlfriend.
Seasons three and four would mostly just feature her in quick background moments, usually with either Sea Swirl, Lemon Hearts, or both. Season four's Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 would finally give Sassaflash her first speaking role when she says, "Admiral Fairy Flight"... and it would immediate establish her as having one of the strangest, scratchiest voices of all the ponies, ever. She kind of sounds like a chain smoker, though we all know that sort of thing doesn't exist in Equestria. Maybe she's literally inhaled too many clouds during her weather team duties. Or maybe she's had too many oat burgers, as seen in Trade Ya!
Current Status
In all honesty, Sassaflash's current status seems to be mostly the same as it was way back in season one: she's just a background pony. Sure, she's had a few personality quirks established here and there, but her appearances in seasons five and six haven't done a lot to set her apart.
This goes to show the kind of power the fandom has. Ponies with far less air time have eventually been chosen to become much more fleshed-out as characters simply because the fandom latched onto them and never let go. In contrast, Sassaflash has been in over half of MLP's episodes, yet I'm not even able to fill up the Bonus sections of this Spotlight because there is so little fan-created content of her.
Her latest appearance was in the latest episode, A Hearth's Warming Tail, where she helps decorate Ponyville with candy canes. She's been there from the beginning, she's still there to this day, but have you seen her?
Sassaflash Fanfics!
The Mysterious Misadventures of Sassaflash
The Rise and Fall of the Dark Lord Sassaflash
Just Drifting Around
Sassaflash needs more love! Send in your best Sassaflash art, stories, or videos today!
Bonus Art!
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