she came back more involved than she ever has been though, even as a background pony. the moment she appears, she is constantly seen tagging along with the story till the end of the episode.
previously she just had little where's waldo appearances, maybe a couple random spots throughout the episode. now's she's more like on a level right below minor character, technically i'd say she was a very minor character in Rainbow Falls
it's pretty cool how they decided to bring her back, really i feel like this is how they should have handled her appearances right from the start. little dents in the story (dropping piano's and such on Twilight, replacing Rainbow Dash periodically in a racing team, little things like that)
