In season five, Rarity maintained her grip on the overall lead throughout all seasons by edging out Pinkie Pie, who leaped into second place after taking the season five crown. Can Rarity hold on again this season? Find out below the break!
Before We Begin
As usual, I will paste the following explanation from the previous posts in this series:
So why bother with researching such a thing as pony tears? As we are all aware, the characters we know and love are a complicated lot, with a much larger emotional spectrum than what you might typically find in a show targeting the demographic that it does. Tearful moments are but one small part of that spectrum, but they do tell us a lot about one's personality!
Additionally, watching an entire season of a series in search of something as specific as tears can be a daunting task. You have to ask yourself what, exactly, counts as crying, for instance. For the purposes of this article, I have skipped over a lot of close calls, or instances where a character came close to crying, but didn't quite make it. I didn't skip them all, however, and will make a note of them as they appear. The rest of the moments I have listed will either have visible tears, or will have the character's eyes visibly shimmering. This time around, I've also looked at why the characters cry, and will include an additional instance for each new reason they cry, even if the tears haven't technically stopped.
Finally, as much time as I put into trying to keep the list as accurate as possible, there is always the chance that I missed a moment or two. There will also likely be some who would contend what, exactly, counts as crying. If you find anything I missed, or wish to challenge a moment that is listed here, feel free to comment below. And now for what we've all been waiting for, let the tears begin!
Season Six
The Crystaling: part one - Starlight Glimmer is the first pony to cry in season six, shedding tears in a flashback to her childhood. Baby Flurryheart cries after being separated from Pinkie Pie.
The Gift of Maude Pie - Though unseen, Pinkie cries into a giant sundae when she finds out that the rock pouch shop is closed. Pinkie cries happy tears when Maude likes her present. She cries again when she opens Maude’s gift to her. Rarity tears up when Pinkie and Maude decide to include her in their gift swap next year.
On Your Marks - Despite a few close calls, no tears were shed.
Gauntlet of Fire - Seven dragons pretend to cry when Torch claims he must step down, but fake tears don’t count! Rarity and Twilight Sparkle both cry very real tears when Spike decides to compete in the Gauntlet of Fire in order to protect Equestria.
No Second Prances - Starlight Glimmer cries when Trixie admits to making friends with her just to annoy Twilight. Trixie cries when she realizes her friendship with Starlight was genuine, and feels awful for how she acted. Starlight sheds more tears as she watches Trixie’s performance from afar.
Newbie Dash - Rainbow Dash’s eyes shimmer as a filly when she first earns the “Rainbow Crash” nickname. They do so again in the present after she bumps into another Wonderbolt. Rainbow cries again after she’s presented with a flight jacket with the nickname stitched into it.
A Hearth’s Warming Tail - Starlight, posing as Snowfall Frost, gets misty-eyed as a filly after being told off by Professor Flint Heart. She cries twice more as both filly and adult Snowfall at the conclusion of Seeds of the Past. More tears are shed when Starlight/Snowfall realizes what she’s missing out on as she views a Hearth’s Warming party. She cries a fifth time when Princess Luna, as the Spirit of Hearth’s Warming Yet to Come, shows her the error of her ways.
The Saddle Row Review - Plaid Stripes cries after Applejack tells her they won’t sell spoon clothing. Fluttershy cries after telling the raccoon family that they must move out. Rarity tears up after the successful grand opening of Rarity For You.
Applejack’s Day Off - No tears!
Flutter Brutter - Zephyr Breeze and Mrs. Shy both tear up when it’s agreed that he should move out.
Spice Up Your Life - Another tear-free episode!
Stranger Than Fan Fiction - Yet another tear-free episode!
The Cart Before the Ponies - Rarity cries in both the past and present as she recalls Derpy beating her for Most Creative Derby Cart.
28 Pranks Later - Fluttershy cries after Rainbow Dash pranks her. Rainbow Dash sheds tears of laughter when Twilight sits on a whoopie cushion.
The Times They Are a Changeling - Spike tears up as Thorax explains his past. A royal guard cries a tear of laughter when Spike says he befriended a changeling. Thorax and Spike both cry after Spike lies about Thorax. Thorax cries twice more, and Spike once more, during the song, A Changeling Can Change. Thorax tears up again when Twilight accepts him as a friend, and yet again when Princess Cadance does the same.
Dungeons and Discords - The fifth tear-free episode of the season!
Buckball Season - While no actual tears are shown, it is heavily implied that both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie cry after telling Applejack and Rainbow Dash they don’t want to play buckball, so I’m counting it.
The Fault in our Cutie Marks - Gabby Griffon, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all cry after the Crusaders reveal that they can’t help Gabby.
Viva Las Pegasus - The sixth tear-free episode of the season!
Every Little Thing She Does - Seven tear-free episodes! A new record.
Pony Point of View - An eight tear-free episode! MADNESS!
Where the Apple Lies - Granny Smith sheds a tear of laughter when Apple Bloom says that Applejack has never lied in her life.
Top Bolt - Sky Stinger tears up while on the Dizz-a-tron
To Where and Back Again: part one - Trixie’s eyes tear up from smoke when Starlight wakes her up.
To Where and Back Again: part two - There are forty instances of changeling Fluttershy’s crying when they trap Discord.
So Who Cried the Most?
There were some fairly emotional episodes in season six, but despite that fact there actually wasn't a lot of crying being done when compared to some of the other seasons. Especially if you ignore the changelings in the finale.
Of the twenty six episodes in season six, a whopping eight of them were completely devoid of tears. This brings the grand total to 107 episodes out of 143 total episodes that contained tears. That's just over 75% of all episodes. But how did everypony rank this season?
Here is a list of who cried in season six from least to most:
- Apple Bloom - 1
- Flurryheart - 1
- Gabby Griffon - 1
- Granny Smith - 1
- Mrs. Shy - 1
- Plaid Stripes - 1
- Royal Guard - 1
- Scootaloo - 1
- Sky Stinger - 1
- Sunburst - 1
- Sweetie Belle - 1
- Twilight Sparkle - 1
- Zephyr Breeze - 1
- Scouts Honor - 2
- Trixie - 2
- Fluttershy - 3
- Spike - 3
- Pinkie Pie - 4
- Rainbow Dash - 4
Well now, we have a glitch in the pony matrix! For the first time ever, it looks like the top 3 spots are not going to be taken up entirely by members of the Mane Six, as Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash have already been accounted for. So who tops the list, then?
- Rarity - 5
- Thorax - 5
- Starlight Glimmer - 9
- Changelings - 40 *
Wait, wait, wait. I know what you're going to say: Why is Starlight's picture up there? The changelings clearly blew her, and everypony else, away with a record-shattering 40 instances of crying in a single season. And that is very true, but those instances were had by roughly 20 changelings who each cried once, twice, or three times for a combined total of 40. Because it's impossible to tell which changeling is which, I've lumped them all together.
Since no single character out-cried Starlight Glimmer, she becomes this season's champ! Following behind her tied for second place is both Thorax and Rarity at 5 cries apiece. That means that Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are both technically tied for third.
In all, season six featured 90 total instances of crying, destroying the previous record of 70 that season five offered. There is, however, the matter of that little asterisk next to the changelings. This rare scene might have had a lot of crying in it, but it's all but impossible to sort out whether the changelings shown in each frame are new changelings crying, changelings who have already been shown who are crying again, or changelings who have already been shown who are still crying (thus, negating some of the total instances). Because of this, I'm going to offer the season totals without this scene below:
Still in first place is season five with 70 times we saw characters cry. Next comes season two at 66 instances of tears. Season six sits in third place with 50 (not counting the changeling scene). Rounding it out are seasons four's 47, season three's 41, and season one's 31 instances total. The grand total now sits at 305 (345) moments of crying shown within 143 episodes.
Totals
Starlight Glimmer may have cried herself to victory in season six, but surely she hasn't claimed the top spot overall? Let's see how everypony stacks up.
Here is the list again, from least to most:
- Angel Bunny - 1
- Berry Punch - 1
- Braeburn - 1
- Breezette - 1
- Bulk Biceps - 1
- Cream Puff - 1
- Brown Dragon - 1
- Cranky Doodle - 1
- Daisy - 1
- Fluffy Clouds - 1
- Flurryheart - 1
- Gabby Griffon - 1
- Hacksaw McColt - 1
- Harry Bear - 1
- Lemon Hearts - 1
- Lightning Dust - 1
- Mane-iac - 1
- Meadow Flower - 1
- Mrs. Shy - 1
- Noi - 1
- Party Favor - 1
- Pinkie Pie Clone - 1
- Plaid Stripes - 1
- Queen Chrysalis - 1
- Raspberry Beret - 1
- Red Dragon - 1
- Royal Guard - 1
- Seabreeze - 1
- Seabreeze's Wife - 1
- Sea Swirl - 1
- Shoeshine - 1
- Sky Stinger - 1
- Snails - 1
- Sunburst - 1
- Teddie Safari - 1
- Vera - 1
- Windfall - 1
- Yak Guard 1 - 1
- Yak Guard 2 - 1
- Zephyr Breeze - 1
- Countess Coloratura - 2
- Discord - 2
- Gilda - 2
- Matilda - 2
- Piña Colada - 2
- Pound Cake - 2
- Prince Rutherford - 2
- Princess Celestia - 2
- Pumpkin Cake - 2
- Scouts Honor - 2
- Twilight Velvet - 2
- Big Macintosh - 3
- Granny Smith - 3
- Lyra Heartstrings - 3
- Moon Dancer - 3
- Princess Cadance - 3
- Princess Luna - 3
- Snips - 3
- Shining Armor - 3
- Steven Magnet - 3
- Trixie - 3
- Apple Bloom - 4
- Diamond Tiara - 4
- Thorax - 5
- Sweetie Belle - 6
- Scootaloo - 7
- Starlight Glimmer - 14
- Applejack - 16
- Spike - 17
- Rainbow Dash - 20
- Twilight Sparkle - 26
- Fluttershy - 29
- Pinkie Pie - 32
With the changelings eliminated due to the difficulty in figuring out just how many of them cried, it looks like Rarity is still the reigning champion of all things teary!
- Rarity - 36
- Changelings - 40*
As many predicted, Rarity is the overall champion of tears... until season seven comes along, anyway. Enjoy it while it lasts!
This season saw Spike overtake Applejack for the sixth spot overall, meaning the Mane Six are no longer dominating the top six spots. Additionally, Starlight Glimmer's performance has put her in a close 8th position, and she could very well sneak past Applejack once season seven airs. Don't think I didn't notice the tears in the season seven promos!
Lyra Heartstrings remains the teariest background pony, Scootaloo continues to cry the most among the Cutie Mark Crusaders (for an impressive 9th spot in the overall rankings), and Trixie jumps up to become tied for 14th after sitting for several seasons at just one instance of tears.
And that does it! With tears already showing up in the season 7 trailers, don't look for these totals to remain how they are for long! With that said, how often does your favorite pony cry? Are we going to have yet another season without any Applejack tears, or will she come back with a vengeance again? Can Spike maintain his spot, or will Starlight Glimmer unceremoniously overtake him? Did you cry at all in season six? Let me know in the comments below!
Twitters: TheSlorg
