Analysis / Friendship Is Magic: Background Ponies

"Yes, even characters with 3 seconds of air time get stories in this fandom!"

— Sethisto (on a 10-part Pokey Pierce fanfic, which sums up background ponies quite nicely)

Part of the fun of the brony community is the extensive Fanon that's been crafted around such minor characters as the background ponies. While the main character page is for how the characters are in the show, this page is for analyzing how the fans portray them.

Return to the main background ponies page here.

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General Fanon Trivia:

Note: If you're looking for the toy analysis, it's been moved here so that it can cover more than just the background ponies.

Background Ponies: Filling in the Blanks

Friendship Is Magic is a show with tons of characters. That applies doubly when it comes to the background characters, the regular ponies who have little to no bearing on the show's plot, but would certainly have a life outside of whatever the mains are doing. Thus, it is only natural for the more popular background ponies to end up acquiring a boatload of recurring fanon characterization, standardized over time by general agreement.

This phenomenon is common with background ponies because — for the most part — they lack any character traits to speak of to begin with. In other words, they are completely blank slates. All the fans can know of them are their actions in the show and what they look like. A background pony's cutie mark can also play a major factor on how their fanon characterization develops; even the lack of a cutie mark can potentially influence their fanon characterization. This is because a pony's cutie mark reflects who the pony is; it's usually connected to their special talent or personality. With the tendency, both in canon and out, for pony names to be connected to the cutie mark, fans would invent a similarly themed one for unnamed ponies.

Not your Average Background Extra

One of the reasons why they attract so much attention compared to your everyday cartoon extra is because of their design. They each look distinct from one another (although there is still a notable frequency of "clones" and recolors due to the animators reusing Flash assets for expediency's sake), making it easier for viewers to identify them within the crowd. Having a brightly colored population of background extras with a wide variety of colors and patterns also helps. This tendency is aided by Flash's ability to store character models in a decompiled form; to create a new background character, an animator can simply copy/paste an existing character model (which also comes with pre-made animations) and redesign them — changing the hair and/or color scheme, adding wings or horns or other accessories (these parts are also modular, enabling the animator to swap parts in different configurations to make a new pony). This is far less resource-consuming than having to manually draw and animate each background character over and over again just to fill a crowd, something that usually leads to shortcuts such as "blobs" of crowds to lighten the work load.

Basically, the Friendship Is Magic animators managed to create a number of background ponies with visually striking designs that remain consistent and recognizable over the series. This, coupled with the occasional Funny Background Event, led to a number of these unnamed ponies getting fanbases of their own, far out of proportion to their role in the show.

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Character-Specific Fanon Trivia:

Here are a list of ponies that have accumulated so much fanon that they require their own section.

Derpy Hooves / Ditzy Doo / Muffins

Name Origins

Derpy Hooves

Derpyhooves.com, a fan news site, has a great article on the origin and evolution of Derpy Hooves. Long story short, back when the pilot episode first aired and the fandom got started on /co/, one poster named "Dr. Foreigner" pointed out the crosseyed pegasus and remarked "And so the legend of Derpy Hooves is born". And born it was. This name is considered the most popular choice and generally regarded as her 'true' name or at least a common nickname.

Ditzy Doo

In "Winter Wrap Up", Rainbowshine/Rainbow Day tells Rainbow Dash that a pony named Ditzy Doo went "north to get the southern birds". During this exchange, Ditzy Doo was never shown onscreen. While there's speculation on who the real Ditzy Doo is, Lauren Faust stated that they might use Derpy's design if they ever need to show Ditzy, and since then a lot of fans have adopted this as her "real" name. One animator says she was called "Ditzy", "Stoneface", and "Bubbles" in-studio before the brony phenomenon kicked off, though more recently the official storyboard sketches and "The Last Roundup" call her "Derpy".

Name Limbo

The name "Ditzy Doo" appears to have been dropped entirely; in the first draft of "The Last Roundup", the pony whom Rainbow Dash was scolding was explicitly named "Ditzy-Doo". In a later draft of both the script and the animation storyboards, the "Ditzy" was replaced by "Derpy" as a Fandom Nod. However, the inclusion of this nod – coupled with a questionable (though unintentional) voice performance – led to the Incident, mostly known as "Derpygate" by the fandom, whereupon the episode in question was pulled from distribution, and Derpy's scene revoiced to remove her name (and reanimated to "fix" her eyes). It turned out the term "Derpy" can be seen and used as a slur against the disabled. Hasbro, not wanting to be seen as being offensive to anyone, ordered the edit. As a result, the canonicity of Derpy's name was once again thrown into question, until she was canonically renamed as Muffins in Season 5 onwards.

Ditzy Doo as Her Own Character

It was revealed by Lauren Faust at Bronycon 2012 that, before Derpy Hooves was discovered by the crew, Lauren already had an idea for a clumsy background character in mind that she called "Ditzy-Doo"; the unseen female Pegasus pony who was mentioned in the episode Winter Wrap Up. A recurring clumsy pony character was already planned to be put into the show but when the crew discovered Derpy, they decided to use her instead.

This popped up again on Lauren's Twitter account during a Q&A session.

Personality

Many interpretations of Derpy's personality have appeared, primarily based on the idea that her 'derped' eyes mean something. The only constants are a devotion to her family (see below), enjoying work as a delivery mare, and... MUFFINS. That last one has managed to make it into The Merch.

The Ditz

A popular school of thought is that her eyes reflect a mental disorder, ranging from malapropisms ("Doorknob! I.. I don't want it twenty-score! Everypony gives me books when I wear it. I don't like their herring, and why are you hare?" from "The Doctor and the Doo") to actual impairment. Most of these only impair what she is able to say or do; her basic feelings towards others usually don't change. The show hadn't actually addressed it directly until "The Last Roundup" – when it's shown she broke the Town Hall, and proceeds to inadvertently cause more damage – unless you count her "costume" (and actions) in "Luna Eclipsed", where she was dressed in paper bags and (accidentally) pulled the plug from the apple-bobbing tub.

Derpy's day job

She's almost always depicted as either a mailpony or delivery pony, based on her scene in "Feeling Pinkie Keen" where she's shown sheepishly smiling to an apparent supervisor (directly above a pile of smashed debris and smashed Twilight). In all cases she's shown as devoted. Her competence ranges from "unable to fly in a straight line" to "capable of the impossible".

Muffins

Finally, muffins. Before "The Last Roundup", her sole possible line of dialogue came in "Applebuck Season", where she was one of the ponies who were looking forward to free muffin samples and somepony, possibly her, could be heard saying "Muffins" dreamily. Most stories and comics involving Derpy will mention muffins at some point, and it will creep into her dialogue. Even cameos will, if feasible (or if not) have her going for a muffin (or, in one story, giving them out). In canon, this has been referenced by "Putting Your Hoof Down", where Derpy is shown wearing a saddlebag with a muffin-shaped clip, and may also have been referenced by the Season 2 opening sequence and "Hearth's Warming Eve", where Derpy is shown riding in the Friendship Express Train's Ice Cream Train Car (which in the show looks more a cupcake or a muffin).

Devoted Parent

Many fans give Derpy the characterization of being very hardworking and loyal. A pastel purple unicorn filly with a mane very similar to Derpy's who appeared in "Winter Wrap-Up" was immediately named "Dinky" and became Derpy's young daughter.^note In "Sisterhooves Social", which aired after this fanon came about, we learned that Dinky is apparently the younger sister of Amethyst Star. In this fanon, Derpy is shown as being absolutely devoted to her young daughter, trying her best to get by as a single mother.

Ultimate Underdog?

Now, aside form all the fanon that has been tacked onto this pony (Mailmare, Mother, Muffins etc.) that the fandom has mostly agreed on, what else really makes her so astoundingly popular? She isn't the smartest, fastest, toughest or the prettiest pony, and that's exactly it. She isn't any of these things. She's not perfect, but she tries her best anyway. While we have an official cast that does awesome things every episode, here's one that doesn't appear to be all that awesome, and in some strange way, that's just as awesome as well.

Fanon Tropes

• Achievements in Ignorance: Derpy is seen doing Pinkie Pie-tier feats of impossibility... ...until somepony tells her the impossibility of her action.

• Big Eater: Derpy's stomach seems bottomless when it comes to eating muffins.
  Derpy: I emptied your fridge.
• Cant Unhear It: Admit it, every time you read fanfic with Derpy in it, you hear BaldDumboRat.
• Determinator: When it comes to muffins, delivering mail, or her daughter's well being, there's nothing in Equestria that could stop her. Another view of her character is that she is able to succeed despite any sort of difficulties she may have.
• Diagnosed by the Audience: Fanfics have been written about why Derpy acts the way she does, but it'll never really be fully explained. Derpy's just... "derpy". This is mostly due to the fact that anyone who tries to give her an actual disorder (such as logorrhea or word-salad) usually ends up getting the details wrong.^note  Some fanfics have Derpy speak in gibberish but be able to write brilliantly. In reality, this does not happen because the parts of the brain that govern speech and writing are adjacent, so an inability to speak correctly will translate into a problem with writing.
• Eyepatch of Power: Some artists often put an eyepatch on Derpy when she is depicted in a serious situation. Often the dangerous kind.
• Obfuscating Stupidity/Smarter Than You Look: This is usually Played for Laughs in fan work. Fans have depicted her as surprisingly intelligent despite what her appearance implies. Whether she is intentionally hiding it from others or not is often left unexplained.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Muffins.
• Unstoppable Mailmare: Derpy is often seen in fan work delivering varying sizes and number mails and packages (including a large wooden crate) from several hazardous environments and locations sometimes at absurdly long distances. With one example being deliver mail to the MOON.

Berry Punch

Name Origins

Berry Punch

The most commonly-seen Fan Nickname for this pony. The name references both her cutie mark (a strawberry and a bunch of grapes) and her punch bowl drinking scene in the episode "Call of the Cutie".

Originally she was known as Overly Protective Parent Pony, often shortened as OPPP. This Fan Nickname is based on a scene in the episode "Bridle Gossip" where the pony dragged a filly into her house, presumably to protect her from Zecora. The filly would also soon receive a similarly themed fan nickname, Over-Protected Filly. Both fan nicknames have fallen into disuse after the episode "Call of the Cutie" where they would both receive new and more appropriate fan nicknames.

Berry Punch's Alcoholism

Origins

This fan interpretation started after the Season 1 episode "Call of the Cutie". There was a party held at Sugarcube Corner for Diamond Tiara and other fillies called a "Cuteceañera": a coming-of-age celebration for young fillies who just earned their cutie marks.^note  This is the Pony version of a real occasion in Latin America called "Quinceañera". In one scene, Apple Bloom attempted to escape the party by using a table with a punch bowl and a bunch of cups on top of it as cover. One of the adult guests noticed the punch bowl so she had no choice but to stop moving or be discovered. The pony looked around to see if anypony else was looking and then proceeded to drink directly from the punch bowl instead of using one of the cups (how an earth pony could hold and use a cup or even use the ladle to scoop punch into the cup is unknown at this point).

Weirdness Magnet?

Strange and outrageous things seems to happen to her out of nowhere. Discord makes a bunch of fake houses collapse as she sneezes, and Big Mac drags her whole house out of it foundations with her inside. No wonder she drinks.

Fan Interpretation and Depictions

Due to her seemingly indecent behavior (for our standards at least) in the scene, her grape-themed character design and the fact that most alcoholic beverages are made from grapes has earned the pony her "Berry Punch" name and has caused the fans to speculate the she may also be an alcoholic. This notion was further solidified when it was revealed in a chatroom conversation with Sibsy, one of the show's storyboard artists, that she personally chose Berry Punch for the scene because she seemed to her like a drinker.

I LOVE berry punch
omg
in that one ep w/ her by the punch bowl
she was supposed to burp
but it never got thru
hahah
I always want to make her drunk
stupid standards! lol
I put her there on purpose
I don't usually care which bg pony I use
but in that case it was thought out.
yea that was the reason I picked her out of the designs
hee hee
as soon as I saw the grapes, I was like..she's the drinker!
I'm glad it caught on
even though it kinda got cut out haha

— Sibsy on Berry Punch, Equestria Daily's IRC

Since then, fanworks of her often depict her as the town drunk, and in combination with the above fanon has resulted in her being portrayed in some fanwork as the over-protective alcoholic mother of the background filly fan-named "Berry Pinch", "Ruby" or "Ruby Pinch" (the last one being a combination of the former two).

Effects of Alcohol on Real Horses

Horses in real life have a high tolerance for alcohol compared to humans due to their herbivorous digestive system and the fact that they typically weigh much more than humans. Depending on its size, a horse could chug down several bottles before it finally gets into a drunken state. Cases of horses being fed with alcoholic drinks such as a glass or a bottle of wine have shown that they have a liking to it and will gladly drink it when presented. For more information regarding this topic go here.

Fanon Tropes

• The Alcoholic: She is almost always depicted as a drunk in fan work.
• Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Her most dominant fan personality is her drinking.
• Trademark Favorite Drink: Grape-based drinks, often the alcoholic kind.

Doctor Whoof / Whooves

Name Origins

Doctor Whoof / Whooves / Hooves

A pony pun and wordplay for the show the Fan Nickname is referencing, Doctor Who. Take note, however, that in that show the character himself isn't really referred to as "Doctor Who", but simply as "The Doctor", a common misconception from people who are not familiar with the series. This is also often used in some fan stories where the ponified Doctor is also referred to as just "Doctor".

Fans can't decide on Doctor Whoof or Whooves^note though "Whooves" is arguably more common, but the pun remains the same. We mostly use Whooves on This Very Wiki because the WeLoveFine shirts use it, and according to director Jayson Thiessen, the show's staff have also started to call him Doctor Whooves (though it isn't clear if he specifically meant Whooves, or just the Whoof/Whooves names in general). It's "The Doctor" anyways.

In a storyboard released by Sibsy (but later taken down) that showed his scene in "Call of the Cutie", his lines were simply credited as "Pony". This is probably the same for any background pony with a speaking part.

"Doctor Hooves" (minus the "W") was first used at WeLoveFine, purportedly on the recommendation of someone on the show, as a compromise between the reference and avoiding trademark issues; this spelling hasn't really caught on, possibly due in part to it implying some relation to Derpy Hooves (also, fans do not generally have to worry about trademark issues like Hasbro does; if they did then there wouldn't be a fandom at all).

Sepia Tock

Another Fan Nickname that originated from a fanfiction where the brown Earth pony is not The Doctor himself but rather a watch/clock maker with a knack of inventing all kinds of complex machinery and other contraptions. It's pretty much never used by any other fans.

Time Turner

The name used on official trading cards as a reference to a brief scene in "Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000", where he is shown flipping an hourglass to start the competition between the Apple family and the Flim Flam Brothers. While it's not as common as Whooves or its variants, some fans did adopt the name to follow Word of God.

I'm a Pony now. Ponies are cool

Origin

Time Turner/Doctor Whooves first appeared in the final sequence of "Mare In The Moon", but his cutie mark wasn't visible. He first appeared with the hourglass cutie mark in "Winter Wrap Up". Fans noticed that he had spiky hair, a brown coat, and his cutie mark meant whatever he did was time-related. Who else has spiky hair, a brown coat, and works with time? David Tennant. It just clicked with the fanbase at large, and shortly thereafter fanworks featuring him started popping up everywhere.

Which Doctor?

For those unfamiliar with Doctor Who, The Doctor has the ability to "regenerate" whenever he comes close to dying. He gets a new body and personality, although he was never anything other than a British man until 2017, when Jodie Whittaker was cast as the first female Doctor. Anyway, the Doctor has always been a Human Alien, never a pony. And he's still not ginger. Technically speaking, the Doctor would have a new personality in his new form, but fans usually just give this pony the Tenth Doctor's (David Tennant) personality, though some give him Eleven's (Matt Smith) or Four's (Tom Baker) traits, and some even go for a Composite Character route. It's also common to give him a necktie^note  And one does appear on him in "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000", as well as his character card, bowtie, fez, Four's scarf, or some other classic piece of Doctor clothing in fanart.

The 2nd Doctor Whooves

The garden party sequence in "Sweet and Elite" contained the biggest and most obvious Shout-Out to the fanon characterization of this pony (at least until this variant cover of the IDW comic). During the garden party, four different ponies can be seen who bear some resemblance to one of the Doctors. All of them have the hourglass cutie mark (see for yourself). One in particular looks quite a bit like Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith, although a few say he resembles the Second Doctor Patrick Troughton (ponifying his name into "Patrick Trotton").

In "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000", he appears with a tie like that worn by David Tennant, as well as operating an hourglass. This has been confirmed to be a nod to the fans from the creators.

Not The Doctor

A Different Kind of Doctor

Every now and then, fans who dislike the standard fanon characterization will come up with some alternate fanon for that brown earth pony with an hourglass cutie mark. He may actually be called "Whoof" or some variation, but one fanfic named him "Sepia Tock". He may be a clock-maker or historian or some other kind of doctor, just not THE Doctor. Other times, he might be an Expy of the Doctor in personality but no actual references to Doctor Who are made (no TARDIS, no sonic screwdriver, no time travel, etc), leaving it vague enough to be interpreted either way.

Companions

It's become common for Doctor Whooves, like his TV counterpart, to have a companion. This is explained in great detail in the "Relationships" folder much further down this page, suffice it to say that the pony that fans are most likely to use as his companion is Derpy. This team-up is so popular in fact, that there is an entire webseries devoted to it, entitled "Doctor Whooves and Assistant" (that link goes to the animated version; there are more episodes in audio-only form).

Fanon Tropes

• Adorkable: Being an Equestrian Earth pony is kind of a new experience for him and it's quite amusing to behold.
• Composite Character: Fan depictions of his personality sometimes portray him with a mixture of the 10th and 11th Doctor's personalities (and maybe a bit of the older incarnations sprinkled here and there).
• Expy: Fans like to believe that this brown pony is a references to Doctor Who due to his mane style, brown color scheme, and hourglass cutie mark, though the crew have stated that it was merely coincidental. That doesn't mean the crew isn't above making such references now, though.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: He's still getting used to living in Equestria and being an Earth pony which makes a great element for comedic situations or drama.
• Forced Transformation: If the fanon that Doctor Whooves is the Doctor in pony form is to be believed.
• Gadgeteer Genius:
  • Being the Doctor and all, he is still this even when he's transformed into a creature without any opposable thumbs and fingers.
  • Not!Doctor can also be like this at times when he's depicted as a watch maker,
• The Nth Doctor: Fan works depict him as the Doctor regenerated as an Equestrian Earth pony. What regeneration is he varies from fan to fan.
• The Smart Guy: Regardless if he's depicted as the Doctor ponified or not, he will be very smart and relied on upon for technical expertise by others.
• Time Travel: Due to his hourglass cutie mark, fans have speculated that his talent has something to do with time. Discussions eventually lead to him being a time traveller and ultimately being the Doctor as a pony.

Lyra Heartstrings

Name Origins

Lyra or Heartstrings?

Lyra got her Fan Nickname from her cutie mark which is a golden lyre. Due to this, it is often presumed that she is good at playing a lyre.^note Her official character card does not mention any instrumental talent, oddly. It does say that she likes to sing.

Some time later, a collection of blind bag toys was discovered. One of the toys was a Lyra lookalike. It was — like every other non-main character — a recolor, this time of Twilight Sparkle's pony mold. The pony was named "Heartstrings".

Thus began what came to be known as the Great Name Debate. Because of Lyra's popularity among the background characters being second only to Derpy, having to deal with a new canon name caused a lot of teeth-gnashing within the fandom — a situation made far worse by the admins of the MLP wiki, who deleted any mention of the original Fan Nickname (including from the "Trivia" section) and banned anyone who crossed them. Bronies quickly split into opposing camps. Some fans outright refused to accept the toy name and insisted on continuing to call her Lyra (going by First Installment Wins). Others had the diametrically opposite opinion and believed that fans must use the most-canon name that exists. A third group advocated a compromise position, saying that they should consider her toy name as her surname, making her full name as "Lyra Heartstrings". A few considered Heartstrings as a separate character entirely due to the fact that she looked different from her show incarnation, especially the profile card that came along with the toy (her coat is a much darker shade of green in the card).

Lyra Heartstrings

Later, a new batch of blind bag toys hit the market. Another Lyra lookalike was included, this time bearing the name of "Lyra Heartstrings". The card had a more accurate coat color than the previous one, though the toy was still a Twilight Sparkle recolor. Some were skeptical of this batch's legitimacy, but later still a previously-announced brushable toy of the pony was revealed to bear the name "Lyra Heartstrings", marking the first official use of the name in the main toyline (the "second-most-canon" entity after the show itself). This artwork did not depict her as simply a Twilight Sparkle recolor (only sharing the eye shape), instead being more of a Minuette/Sea Swirl recolor (despite Minuette and Sea Swirl themselves not having any toy artwork of their own). Due to these toys, the "Lyra Heartstrings" name has become an accepted canon name among the vast majority of the fans, and by extension the "Lyra" Fan Nickname is generally considered to be Ascended Fanon. The "Lyra Heartstrings" name was further canonized by its inclusion on her official trading card, followed by use in the show from Season 5 and onwards.

Lyra Trivia

The Musician

Due to her cutie mark, fans have assumed that her talent is playing the lyre^note  A lyre is a small portable harp-like instrument; they've been around since Classical Antiquity, though sometimes she's shown to know how to play other similar instruments such as the harp. Depictions of her competing or participating in a concert performance with other musically inclined ponies is also common especially towards Octavia. She's also sometimes shown to be Ponyville's local music teacher.

To be Human

More of a Running Gag, but the "Lyra wants to be human" deal comes from her Funny Background Event in "Dragonshy", where she's seen in the background sitting (or slouching to be precise) on a bench like a human being in contrast to another pony beside her who is sitting like a normal pony would. Later in "Fall Weather Friends" she's seen holding a drinking cup with her hoof when she could've easily just used her unicorn magic to hold it instead.

These series of seemingly random yet somehow related events have led fans to joke about her obsession with hands, an "ancient race of humanoids", having a secret desire to be one (usually by mimicking various common human behaviors like standing, walking and running on two legs) to wishing to visit their world. Due to the fact that humans don't exist in the show, other ponies around her find her hobby strange, weird and bizarre. Treating us as if we're some sort of mythological creature/a legend/a fairy tale, or even non-existent at all as if Lyra got this from out of the blue, is common in fan works. This plot element is usually used for comedic reasons but the use of this for serious situations is not unheard of. With Equestria Girls, there is now a canonical means to connect the human world with the pony one.

Bon Bon

Due to aesthetically pleasing color-contrasts, Lyra is often depicted side by side with the Earth-Pony called "Sweetie Drops" or "Bon Bon". This led inevitably to fans shipping them together. The creative staff, for their part, see the two ponies as good friends and nothing more—or rather, they did at first. More information on this pairing may be found down near the bottom of the page in its own subfolder.

As to Bon Bon herself, despite having a place as one of "The Other Mane Six"^note  the Six most popular background ponies – usually Lyra, Bon Bon, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, Derpy, and Doctor Whoof; sometimes the Doctor will be replaced with Minuette ("Colgate") or Carrot Top in order to better emulate the all-girls nature of the original Mane Six, it took a while for fans to agree on any concrete personality or gimmicks for her (save for one mentioned below) before "Slice of Life" expanded on her more. Indeed, most of Bon Bon's popularity stems from her association with Lyra.

Fanon Tropes

• Anthropomorphic Shift: Lyra is more human-like in behavior in fan work compared to the source material. Other ponies find it bizarre.
• Dark Secret: Sometimes fans depict her fascination for hands and humanity as something of a closet hobby. Usually played for laughs.
• Genki Girl: She is sometimes portrayed with this personality, especially if it involves her interest in hands and/or humans. This trait originated from her jumping excitedly in place in the background with a big grin on her face in several early episodes.
• Intrigued by Humanity: As stated above, she is often depicted as having an obsession with humans, often with various interpretation in terms of mood and relevance to the plot.
• Magic Music: Like Vinyl, she's sometimes shown incorporating her unicorn magic into her music.
• Old Friend: Some fans like portray her as having gone to the same school as Twilight Sparkle and knowing her a little bit before moving to Ponyville, mostly based on Lyra giving a friendly wave to her in the pilot. We find out in "Amending Fences" that they were actually good friends before each of them moved to Ponyville.
• Power Fist: One of the popular depictions on how Lyra plans to or attain hands is via grafting mechanical ones to both of her front hooves.
• Running Gag:
  • Lyra's fascination for human hands and/or humanity in general.
  • Other ponies becoming bewildered due to the fact that humans don't exist in the show's universe and only Lyra appears to know what a human is. How Lyra knew of humanity or why she is fascinated with them are usually left unexplained.
• Squick: Lyra's hand obsession is sometimes depicted as creepy in fan work. It's even creepier when you see Lyra with human hands.

Vinyl "DJ Pon-3" Scratch

Name Origins

DJ Pon-3

Often considered as her Stage Name, this name, along with "Vinyl Scratch", originated from a poll voting contest in the fan blog Equestria Daily. Both "DJ Pon-3" and "Vinyl Scratch" took the lead, receiving more than a hundred votes ahead of the other candidate names with "DJ Pon-3" winning the contest, having a few more votes than "Vinyl Scratch". It remained a Fan Nickname until the name began being put in use in Hasbro licensed ads and products thus ascending its fanon status into an All There in the Script.

Another thing about this name is its inconsistency. There are many spelling variations being used within the fandom and others like licence products. Its pronunciation also varies, ranging from "dee-jay-pon-three" to "dee-jay-po-nee" with the former being read in a literal sense and the latter being read as Leet Speak. The former pronunciation was used in one of the Hub's MLP:FiM commercials, Equestria Girls which have made it the more popular of the two.

The name is a reference on how most DJs use an cool alias as their stage names.

Vinyl Scratch

Often considered as her real name, this Fan Nickname shared the same history as her stage name. It too began as a Fan Nickname until officially licensed third party merchandise began using the name and eventually being used by Hasbro itself.

The name itself is a reference to an audio technique known as "scratching" where a DJ moves a vinyl record on a turntable back and forth to produce the iconic scratching sound.

Vinyl Trivia

Red Eyes

One of the most prominent pieces of Vinyl Fanon is her eye color. Since her first One-Scene Wonder is only a few seconds long and the whole time she's wearing shades, we didn't really know what her eyes actually look like under those purple tinted shades until her second One-Scene Wonder, which confirmed that they're the same color as they are Dummied Out in The Hub's Web Game DJ Pinkie Pie. Red is the most common and is even in the picture on the main page. One fan drew her with red eyes and it just spread. It's possible to find the occasional odd piece, especially in older fanart, where she has blue eyes instead^note based on the color of her magic aura in her first One-Scene Wonder or even purple.

Personality

Most fans depict her with a "rock star" personality: energetic, a bit eccentric, and likes to party all night and have fun especially at nightclubs along with other archetypal traits and personality of a DJ and/or a partygoer. She's also portrayed as a "cool" character: Very outgoing, confident, likes to look cool and impress other ponies most often using her talent as a DJ and loves the attention of her fans. She has also been portrayed to like other genres of music besides her love for Electronic Music such as various forms of rock music like Punk Rock and Heavy Metal. Besides her iconic turntable, she has been portrayed playing an electric guitar and an electronic piano. When not in a club being a DJ, she is often depicted to bring along an MP3 player like an iPod with her which she listens to using large headphones^note which is a generic accessory for a DJ character more often than earbuds.

Flaws that is often portrayed is her brashness, her mild untidiness especially after parties, being a night owl^note A person who is more active at night than during the day, and most prominently her loudness which often annoys her neighbors or apartment mates (depending on the setting) during sleep hours especially Octavia who prefers a more calm and quiet type of music in contrast to Vinyl's taste in music. She's the type of character that would act first and ask questions later, the type that follows her heart more often than her head. Another one is her hidden loneliness with all the fans she has, she has few to call real friends.

Fanon Tropes

• Blind Musician: An occasional interpretation of Vinyl Scratch. Not so surprising given the amount of fanon regarding her eye color (albinism?) and her Cool Shades. Jossed in "A Canterlot Wedding, Part 2".
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: She is also sometimes depicted as this ranging from a bit eccentric to Pinkie Pie-tiers of partying wildness.
• Cyberpunk/Steampunk: Fans seem to love putting her in sci-fi settings.
• Disco Tech: Other than her usual turntable, she is sometimes portrayed in fan work operating large complex musical machinery.
• Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Though not so much as it has become a defining fanon character trait like Berry Bunch.
• The Lad-ette: She is the more adult version of this.
• Large Ham: She is really proud of her fame as a DJ in fan work.
• Large Ham Radio: Thanks to The Vinyl Scratch Tapes, depicting her as a radio DJ/host has become quite prominent.
• Life of the Party: In fan work, she is just as wild, loud and eccentric as Pinkie is, though more of a "glow sticks and lasers" themed than "balloons and confetti".
• Magic Music: Given that she is a unicorn pony, depictions of her using her unicorn magic to enhance her concerts and performances are not uncommon.
• An Odd Place to Sleep: Fans have depicted her sleeping on the ground, the floor and even on her turntable usually with a bunch of red cups and/or bottles lying around her implying that she got too drunk in the party.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: One of the most popular fanon is that Vinyl Scratch has red eyes (which became canon in the episode "A Canterlot Wedding"). Various reasons were speculated as to why she hides it with her Cool Shades.
• Sad Clown: A minor fan interpretation of her is that, in spite of being an outgoing, social party pony that loves making other ponies happy with her dance mixes and sick beats, she's sad on the inside because she has very few ponies that she can call true friends. This describes her sadness very well.
• The Slacker: She is depicted in fan work as quite laid-back and a bit messy at times, not even bothering on cleaning up (or at least much of it) after one of her dance party shenanigans. This trait/quality of hers annoys Octavia to no end, especially when they are depicted as house/room mates.
• The Speechless/Cute Mute: Another common fan depiction, stemming from her never speaking in the show, even in situations in which she logically should have speaking lines.

Octavia

Name Origins

Octavia, and all her many names

At least two people claim to have created the name "Octavia". It's a reference to the word "Octave", a term used to describe the interval between one note and another which has twice or half the frequency of vibration as the first. Generally ponies portrayed as her close friends will refer to her as either Octy or Tavi, with the exact nickname varying from fic to fic, and a few even suggesting that one nickname is more intimate than the other.

There is some debate as to whether this is her only name or if she has a second name like many other ponies. Various sources have identified her full name as 'Octavia Melody' or 'Octavia Philharmonica'. Generally, the Philharmonica name is used in works that place her as high-birth, while the Melody name is granted in other situations where she's given some other sort of family or simply needs a Full-Name Ultimatum. Most often, though, she is simply known as Octavia.

Octavia Trivia

So Classy

Octavia is commonly depicted as an elegant, sophisticated mare. Her personality ranges from being The Stoic, a Deadpan Snarker to—in extreme cases—an outright Tsundere, though that doesn't mean that she's a total Jerkass or a Perpetual Frowner. She loves to listen to Classical Music, usually the calm and soothing type. When she talks, she is often depicted to speak in a formal and polite manner, but not to the extent of talking in Early Modern English like Princess Luna^note AND HER ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE.

Pinkie's Sister?

After "The Best Night Ever" aired, and before ''Hearthbreakers'' debunked the fan theory, fans were quick to note that Octavia looked similar to Inkie/Marble, one of Pinkie's sisters seen her flashback in "Cutie Mark Chronicles". Octavia's initial reaction to Pinkie appearing on stage was also noticeably different — her band mates were surprised, but Octavia just rolled her eyes, as if this has happened to her before. Despite the colors not matching exactly (even the eye colors are different shades of pink), the idea of Pinkie having an Elegant Classical Musician for a sister was too much to pass up.

When playing with this fanon, she usually gets the full name Inkabella Octavia Pie, and there's some handwaving on why Pinkie didn't directly say hi to her at the Gala, usually Pinkie not wanting to embarrass her band mates too much or they didn't recognize each other right away having not seen each other for some time. The popular Ask Octavia Tumblr blog plays with this by having her as Pinkie's cousin, allowing for Pinkie & Octavia Sibling Yin-Yang with a much lower possibility of being Jossed should we ever see an adult Inkie in the show.

Lauren Faust herself addressed the issue in an FAQ, saying the color similarities is a coincidence and that she would say Octavia & Pinkie are not sisters... but it's possible the current show runners may have "other ideas".

Fanon Tropes

• Antiquated Linguistics: Fan comic and fanfiction authors usually write her dialogues like this to match her classy demeanor.
• Broken Bird: Sad and/or grimdark fanfiction authors often to use this to explain the origins of Octavia's stoic personality.
• The Comically Serious: Her constant seriousness and being uptight is sometimes used for comedy, especially when paired with an eccentric character (such as Vinyl Scratch or Lyra Heartstrings) makes for great comedy.
• Consummate Professional: One of her defining characteristics in fanon is her professionalism, discipline and devotion to her work. Due to this, she is usually seen butting heads with more laid-back musicians such as Lyra Heartstrings and especially Vinyl Scratch which she has to put up with everyday when they are depicted as house/room mates.
• Deadpan Snarker: Often mixed with The Stoic personality.
• Elegant Classical Musician: Very obviously so, especially when compared to Vinyl Scratch. Naturally, this led to many fics pairing the two of them.
• Not So Stoic: She does show some emotion from time to time. Usually when heavy emotions and feelings are involved.
• The Stoic: She is usually depicted with this personality.
• Only Sane Mare: Fans seem to love pairing her up with eccentric and/or hyperactive characters.
• Straight Mare: This is almost always her role in fan works.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Another interpretation of her is this. Even though she may seem cold and distant most of the time, she does care for her friends and bandmates.
• Tsundere: The Type A (tsun tsun) is the extreme end of Octavia's fanon characterization. Starts off as being uncaring and aloof then she starts getting more and more snarky the more a character gets closer to her and finally warms up and becomes more friendly and comfortable to interact with.

Golden Harvest "Carrot Top"

Name Origins

Carrot Cake to Carrot Top

Carrot Cake was her Fan Nickname before the show revealed Mr. Cake's complete name is also Carrot Cake. Evidence and traces of its existence can be seen in earlier fan works like the famous comic story that spawned the "I emptied your fridge" gag.

Due to the new canon name, fans have decided to come up with a new Fan Nickname for her to avoid confusion and have agreed on calling her "Carrot Top" from now on. Why they chose this name and how it is related (if at all) to the person of the same name is uncertain, but probably related to the pony's orange mane and carrot cutie mark. An interesting note is one of the animators says he coincidentally also named her "Carrot Top". Fans and animators think alike it seems.

Golden Harvest

This name originated from a blind bag pony toy that bears an uncanny resemblance to the background pony. Despite the general unpopularity of using the toy names among fans, some fans do still use this name to identify the carrot pony. Other times, some fans use this name for humor such as using it as an embarrassing real name for Carrot Top which she tries to hide from others or connecting it to the kung fu film company of the same name. At the script reading of "Boast Busters" at Canterlot Gardens 2012, the narration of Chris Savino's descriptions gives her name as "Golden Harvest" as well.A collection of Trading Cards released in 2012 confirmed this pony is named "Golden Harvest" and that "Carrot Top" is an In-Series Nickname for her.

Carrot Trivia

Carrot Top's House

Fans say that the carrot themed house◊ behind the Sweet Apple Acre's barn is hers. Other times, her residences is portrayed as a lone cottage with a carrot garden of varying size in the backyard.

Personality

Carrot Top is often portrayed as your average pony. Living a relatively simple, happy and peaceful life, doing the single thing that she does best to get through life; growing carrots.

Weirdness Magnet

Occasionally some out-of-the-ordinary events happen to her like Derpy routinely emptying her fridge and/or eating the muffins that she bakes, hordes of rabbits (Angel Bunny usually among them) invading her carrot garden, and ponies suddenly becoming attracted to her due to her uncut mane.

Carrots and Carrot Accessories

Carrot Top is also portrayed to have proficiency on making baked goods, especially if it's carrot based and/or muffins. This was probably based on Applejack's talent on making apple based food in addition to her main talent of growing apples.

Fanon Tropes

• Arch-Enemy:
  • Being a carrot farmer does have its disadvantages. Rabbits are a constant threat to her garden, especially a certain bunny who lives with Fluttershy.
  • Some works — especially those that make her a farmer rather than small-scale gardener or cook — also give the Apple family this role.
• Boring Yet Practical: Her supposed talent for carrots. Be it growing them or making various food dishes out of them. It's not the most spectacular talent in the world and her carrot garden isn't as large and booming business as Sweet Apple Acres but it's enough to get her through life.
• Dark Secret: The name "Golden Harvest" is treated as Carrot Top's dark secret to the rest of the world in fan work. Why she hides it is usually left unexplained and played for laughs.
• The Everypony: Her characterization often relies on other more eccentric characters and their wacky antics and unusual situations and occurrence. When left alone or put in a normal situation, she is always depicted as just your average mare.
• The Generic Mare: This usually her role when grouped together with other ponies.
• Girl Next Door: When she is depicted with a neighbor. Often it's either Fluttershy or the Apple family.
• The Hermit:
  • Carrot Top's house is often depicted as a cottage or a hollowed tree covered in vegetation that's located on the outskirts of Ponyville similar to that of Fluttershy's but with small patches of tilted land where she plants her carrots.
  • Alternatively some fans point out a certain structure◊ with a carrot ornament on top that's surrounded by farm land that we often see in Sweet Apple Acre's scenic shot is Carrot Top's house, though this might just be the Apple's own carrot farm.
• I Just Want to Be Special: Some fans like to make this as her goal in life or at least she tries to. One such depictions is the fan song "Beyond Her Garden" and its many remixes.
• Muggle: Fans often depict her as your average everypony. She may not be the smartest, strongest, fastest, or riches ponies around but she does try her best, even though it's still isn't enough. This concept was popularized by the popular comic series Carrot Cake Storybook and the fan song "Beyond Her Garden" which was dedicated to her and has received many remixes.
• Muggle Best Friend: This is her to any pony she is paired with.
• The Rival: Fans often depict her as seeing herself as the rival of the Apples when it comes to the single crop focused business even though her garden pales in comparison to their farm.
• Unlikely Heroine / Weirdness Magnet: Carrot Top is sometimes put in weird and unusual situations in fan stories. For instance her first encounter with Derpy Hooves in the famous "Carrot Cake Storybook" where she had an entire mini adventure just to deliver an injured Derpy's package and in "The Mane Attraction" comic series where she decided to not have a hair cut which proves to have unforeseen consequences as every pony around her fell madly in love with her new mane-do.

Caramel

Name Origins

Caramel

The name "Caramel" came from the episode "Winter Wrap Up" when his regular pony model's name was mentioned for the first time. Since then anypony who resembles him are also called as "Caramel", "Caramel Something", or anything that's related to the word caramel. So far there's Toffee, Creme Brulee and Doctor Stable.

Caramel's Sexuality

Fans have often depicted Caramel as either a Straight Gay or Transgender due to the fact he shares both color scheme and cutie mark with two other ponies. The first that appeared was on season one's opening sequence: A Big Macintosh Palette Swap. This stallion body type is much more masculine than the regular stallion body type. Then in the episode "Winter Wrap Up" we see a regular stallion bearing the same scheme as his. In this appearance we see him in a sorry state with Big Macintosh because he lost the grass seeds they were suppose to plant. Finally in "Over a Barrel", we see another pony bearing the same design in the background but this time this one is a mare.

Many different fanon theories were speculated^note :See "A Family of Clones" and this section's "Fanon Tropes" folder for the others. One of which is that Caramel, once a proud manly stallion living in a society dominated by females, began to question his sexuality. His friendship with Big Macintosh^note Fans have the tendency of interpreting ponies that are beside each other in a scene as either friends, couples, or relatives. and his failures during "Winter Wrap Up" have only pushed his fleeting masculinity to the other side of the sexuality spectrum. Having been fed up with this charade, Caramel has decided to relinquish his masculinity and embrace the other side, resulting in the gay Caramel or the female Caramel that we see on "Over a Barrel".

Caramel being depicted as a straight cis stallion is not unheard. There seems to be shipping trend between him and Twilight Sparkle (next to her is Applejack). Why is this so is still under research and the rest of the details will be put in the relationship section when enough data and information has been gathered. This interpretation of Caramel was further strengthened when we see Caramel nose rubbing^note Which seems to be the equivalent of humans kissing with a mare in "Hearts and Hooves Day".

A Family of Clones

Others think that these different versions of Caramel that we've been seeing through out the show are actually members of a family of ponies with a severe case of Generation Xerox. How they are related to each other (siblings,cousins,etc.) varies from fan to fan.

There have been a lot of Caramels that have popped up throughout the series:

• Big Macintosh Caramel: Also known as "Creme Brulee" or just "Creme". First appeared in Season 1's opening sequence. A Palette Swap of Big Macintosh with Big Mac's eye color. Sometimes seen as Caramel when he was a manly pony.
• Regular Caramel: First appeared in "Winter Wrap Up". Has a regular stallion body type. Name is officially canon to this pony and/or True Caramel. The most recognized Caramel among all Caramels. Interactions between him and his relatives seem to usually involve competition with a love interest.
• True Caramel: First appeared in "Winter Wrap Up". Regular Caramel with a caramel apple cutie mark. Name is officially canon to this pony and/or Regular Caramel.
• Pegasus Caramel: First appeared in "Sonic Rainboom". Regular Caramel as a Pegasus pony.
• Female Caramel: Also known as "Toffee". First appeared in "Over a Barrel". A mare with Caramel's color scheme and cutie mark plus a top hat. Started the whole Trans!Caramel thing. Seen as either a gender bent Caramel or his twin sister. Stories involving her and Caramel often involve her maliciously pretending to be his brother as if he changed his gender to screw with his friends especially Big Macintosh or is accidentally mistaken for one another^note how can this even happen given the ponies distinct designs left unexplained usually leading into a Love Triangle between the twins and the love interest.
• Little Caramel: First appeared in "Over a Barrel". A version of Regular Caramel seen by some as being smaller than usual, and thus interpreted as being a colt (as the standard design for colts wasn't established until Season 2).
• Coconut Caramel: First appeared in "The Best Night Ever". Regular Caramel with purple eyes, a yellow tail, and what appears to be a tree-on-island cutie mark. Seems to be a fusion of Caramel and Coconut (another common background stallion).
• Doctor Caramel: Also known as "Doctor Stable". First appeared in "Read It and Weep". Regular Caramel as a unicorn pony with a heart monitor cutie mark and wearing a Doctor's getup.
• Palette Swap Caramels: There are also other background ponies that appeared with Regular Caramel's model but with different color schemes and/or a different pony race.
• Chance-A-lot: Officially named as such in the fourth and sixth waves of Blind Bags. The Wave 4 version is completely crystal, so his mane color was unknown until the Wave 6 version showed it to be more orange than brown. Like the other Blind Bag stallions, he's a Big Macintosh Palette Swap. Generally considered to be the toy line incarnation of Regular Caramel (due to the matching eye color) or more rarely Big Macintosh Caramel (due to the matching body type).

Fanon Tropes

• Ambiguously Bi: With the events of season 2, some fans are beginning to think that he swings both ways.
• Ambiguously Gay: This is Caramel to fans. Though if one exclusively follows the show and ignore the fandom, you'll find that he is actually quite straight.
• Easy Sex Change: Fans like to think of him turning into a female. They don't seem to care how he did it.
• Generation Xerox: If you consider all of his versions as a family then they look a lot (if not exactly) like each other.
• In Touch with His Feminine Side: His sad look in "Winter Wrap Up" have caused fans to see him as a sensitive guy.
• Me's a Crowd / Literal Split Personality / Self-Duplication: Fans think this is the meaning of Caramel's cutie mark (the three horseshoes) and why we see a lot of him.
• Rule 63: Toffee
• Shapeshifter / Gender Bender: There are so many versions of Caramel appearing in the show that fans are beginning to think that he is a shape shifting pony.
• The Smurfette Principle: Toffee is the only known female Caramel.
• Straight Gay: In almost all of Caramel's depictions as a homosexual, you'll never see him act stereotypically gay.
• Trans Equals Gay: One of the reasons why fans thought Caramel is definitely gay when they saw Female Caramel.
• Transgender: Some fans thought of this when they saw Female Caramel. Other fans think she is just Caramel's twin sister.
• Which Me?: Happens a lot when two or more Caramels are present in a story.

Other Background Ponies

Aside from the big ones above, here are a list of fledging characters who have developed a recurring fanon trait within the fandom but has not gotten large enough to have its own entry.

Trivia

Bon Bon the Voice Actress

This interpretation of Bon Bon originated from the fact that she has probably the most lines of any background pony, yet sounds completely different every time she speaks. While this is true of most speaking background ponies, she's the one who's best remembered for it, possibly because she doesn't have much common fanon outside of her relationship with Lyra. The fandom's close contact with the show's voice actors via the Internet (usually Twitter) and special guest appearances at some conventions (especially brony conventions such as Bronycon) may have also played a role in influencing this perspective towards the background pony. After "A Canterlot Wedding" introduced the Changelings, it became somewhat common to potray Bon Bon as a Changeling deserter. "Slice of Life" then revealed that she's actually a Secret Agent (which launched fan works of its own), and a trading card suggests that her multiple voices are used to break a rotten string of bad luck. The "multiple voices" aspect stopped after Season 5's "Slice of Life", when Andrea Libman became her permanent voice actress.

A Little Too Much Flexibility, Blossomforth

In one scene in her debut episode "Hurricane Fluttershy", Rainbow Dash was inspecting the pegasus ponies as they warm up for an upcoming event. We then see ponies doing stretching exercises who are performing better than the previous day. The ponies seen and mentioned by Rainbow Dash from first to last were Flitter, Cloudchaser, and finally Blossomforth. Blossomforth was doing too well as we see her struggling in a contorted position. She doesn't seem too happy about it. Rainbow Dash then tells her that her flexibility is "a little too much".

Due to this scene, she was from that point on often depicted in fanwork as a contortionist (or a pony who is as flexible as one) and who may or may not be participating in yoga classes off-screen. This concept is sometimes used as a fetish in fan work (a quick search of a Pony imageboard for Blossomforth turns up more explicit artwork than is perhaps healthy).

Cloud Kicker: Alpha Bitch or Lovable Sex Maniac?

Cloud Kicker, a purple pegasus with a yellow mane, has been one of the most common background ponies since the show began. She's somehow well-connected enough to attend almost every important or exclusive event in the show, up to and including the Royal Canterlot Wedding. Over time, she's developed two very disparate personalities. The first common interpretation makes her into a former class bully — essentially, a grown-up Diamond Tiara — with continued passive-aggressive rivalries towards Lyra, Cheerilee, or others. The second interpretation makes her friendly and outgoing and with an extremely relaxed attitude towards sex. Her many, many escapades are the reason she shows up everywhere; generally, she's in the middle of sealing a deal. Both of these interpretations are based on her broad number of appearances, as well as her Nightmare Night costume choice: a Hot Witch.

Fanon Tropes

• Alliterative Name:
  • Goldengrape's Fan Nickname Green Grapes.
  • Sea Swirl's Fan Nickname Dolphin Dream.
• Third-Person Person: Or, more accurately, Third-Person Pony. Before "A Canterlot Wedding" gave Twinkleshine more non-third-person speaking lines, some fans theorised that she was Moondancer herself (despite the fact that Twinkleshine is very clearly seen in the pilot speaking an aside in the first person after inviting Twilight to Moondancer's party, meaning there is no way she could be Moondancer). Naturally there's a fancomic of her meeting Trixie.

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Relationship Fanon Trivia:

Here are a list of recurring relationships within the fandom's collective fanon. It not only includes shipping but also other types of relationship as well such as friendships, familial relationships, mentor/student relationships, groups and various other types that connects two or more ponies together in some way or another.

Derpy's Family and Friends

As one motivational picture◊ puts it, "The Animators gave her a lazy eye, the fans gave her a family." Fans have built up a solid fanon surrounding Derpy being a loving mother and dedicated friend.

Carrot Top

There is a popular fanon within the community revolving around Carrot Top and Derpy Hooves being Heterosexual Life-Partner and roommates. Their friendship was popularized by a series of story sketches by Elosande^note Elosande is also known for drawing Derpy and Carrot Top comic sketches which have also solidified the "I emptied your fridge" Running Gag meme and the notion that they live in the same house. which has also spawned the "I emptied your fridge" meme back in January of 2011. Carrot Top is usually portrayed as the straight mare to Derpy's goofiness. As noted on the main page, they were spotted standing next to each other in some crowd scenes in Season 1. The "Luna Eclipsed" scene where Derpy accidentally drains an apple bobbing tub while Carrot looks on annoyingly at her action seems to be a Fandom Nod by the animators to this friendship.

Dinky

Many fans have taking a liking to Derpy being the mother of a background filly named Dinky. The whole thing came from speculation around the time "Call of the Cutie" aired. At the time, it wasn't known that Sweetie Belle was Rarity's sister, and fans speculated that all the adult ponies at Diamond Tiara's party were either the parents or older siblings of the fillies there, with the obvious exception of Pinkie & Twilight. Derpy was at the party and Dinky was noted to having similar hair. A fanfic involving the two later popularized the idea, resulting in a ton of adorable fanworks. Up until "Sisterhooves Social", they had never been seen on screen at the same time, and even then they're not standing near each other.

Dinky's father

Who Dinky's father is is up in the air and most fans have their own interpretation. The most popular male pony to be shipped with Derpy was another background pony known as Doctor Whooves. Due to the pairing's popularity and the fact that both their last names sound the same when pronounced^note That is, if you actually call him "Whooves" has spawned the notion that he may be in fact be Dinky's father albeit an adoptive one, seeing as Doctor Whooves is an earth pony. However, with the episode "Baby Cakes" showcasing that ponies can have children outside their race (albeit rarely), him fathering a unicorn daughter is not impossible.

As for Dinky's biological father, most fans seem to agree it had to be a unicorn, some pairing Derpy up with Ponet^note the painter pony from "Call of the Cutie" (who, like Dinky, is a purple unicorn with a blonde mane), Pokey Pierce (probably the most well known male background unicorn), or some unknown unicorn father that's just no longer present. Most fanfics have Derpy as a single mother living on her own or with Carrot Top, for whatever reason.

Amethyst Star "a.k.a.: Sparkler"

Dinky is shown to have an older sister in "Sisterhooves Social": A lesser known background pony known as Amethyst Star (original Fan Nickname "Sparkler"), who first appeared alongside Lyra in the pilot episode but has never had much fanon tied to her. Inconsistencies in the episode aside^note Amethyst Star and the other big sisters are shown in the stands watching themselves race, this new piece of information has spawned numerous debates concerning Dinky's fanon status as Derpy Hooves's daughter. Numerous theories have been proposed – from Derpy being much Older Than She Looks^note A common backup to this theory comes from the episode "Cutie Mark Chronicles" where we see her among the crowd in a flashback where the mane cast were still fillies. Another explanation involves the Derpy Hooves/Doctor Whooves shipping fanon where it claims that Derpy doesn't age due to an incident caused by the pony Doctor., to Amethyst Star being Dinky's half-sister, to Amethyst Star posing as Dinky's sister in a similar fashion to Sweetie Belle and Applejack, to Dinky being Derpy's biological daughter and Amethyst Star being adopted, to the entire Derpy & Dinky fanon being Jossed among other things. Already, this new fanon is beginning to spawn its own series of fanworks deriving from this. Whatever Amethyst Star's connection to the two may be, it certainly looks like there's a new addition to Derpy's family. In "The Mysterious Mare Do Well" she is seen having a picnic with Tootsie Flute who may be her daughter.

• Alternatively, perhaps that filly Amethyst Star was having a picnic with is a cousin of hers and Dinky's that doesn't live in Ponyville (maybe a branch lives in Canterlot or Manehattan), and the picnic was to welcome her to Ponyville (to justify Derpy & Dinky not being there, Derpy was probably doing her day job and perhaps Dinky was studying with friends, and Amethyst Star happened to have her day off, assuming she has a job).
  • On a relative note, both Dinky and Tootsie Flute were seen together in the "Winter Wrap Up" song.
• Also the possibility that she may also be a local Ponyville foal-sitter (in spite of her Canterlot appearance).

Doctor Whooves

As mentioned, the Doctor (when he is a pony version of The Doctor) often finds himself accompanied by Derpy in fan projects (some stories have used Twilight Sparkle as a companion instead). This would follow the Doctor's pattern of finding unique (yet not conventionally powerful) female companions for his travels, as well as leaving the Mane Six intact for their own adventures. This can alternate with, combine with, cause, end with, or otherwise timey-wimey with whether he is the father of Dinky and/or Amethyst Star, by nature, adoption, or just hanging around all the time and taking care of them.

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Fanon Tropes:

• Absurdly Youthful Mother: If the fanon that Amethyst Star is the biological daughter of Derpy is to be believed, then she is this. One popular reason as to why involves Doctor Whooves.
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Surprisingly subverted. Given Derpy's ditzy personality, fans have rarely or never made any depictions of her embarrassing her daughter/s.
• Disappeared Dad: Derpy is often depicted as a single mother in fan work. What happened to the father is usually left unanswered.
• Good Parents: Derpy is almost always depicted as a loving and caring mother to her daughter/s. Always cheering them up when they're sad. One popular fanon suggests that Derpy derped her eyes so that she could watch both of her both daughters at the same time. The only times that she isn't like this is when she was Discorded at the time when the "discorded ponies" meme was a popular trend. In fact, when her Discorded self is not Played for Laughs, this is normally her personality trait that is most often inverted.
• Happily Adopted:
  • Another popular fanon is that Derpy's daughters are actually adopted. Before the episode "Baby Cakes" revealed that any pony race can give birth to any of the three pony races, this was one of the primary reasons why some fans think that this relationship is biologically impossible.
  • There's also a popular variation where Dinky is Derpy's biological daughter and Amethyst Star is adopted; the reason for adoption varies from fan to fan.
• Heterosexual Life-Partner:
  • Derpy Hooves and Carrot Top. Derpy usually visits her for the food or mail delivery. Shipping between these two is extremely rare.
  • Other times, Derpy is shown to be living with Carrot as room mates along with her daughter/s. Often Carrot Top's house. The opposite seems as of yet rare or non-existent.
• Mama Bear: Derpy Hooves is often depicted as being this towards her children.
• Marefilly: Derpy Hooves acts more childish than the mane cast in fan work and she spends most of her time with her daughter/s when she's not hanging out with Carrot Top (usually for the muffins in her fridge) or on the job.
• Platonic Life-Partners: When Derpy Hooves is portrayed as Doctor Whooves's assistant and/or friend which usually leads to a deeper relationship or remaining in a platonic relationship.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Doctor Whooves and Derpy Hooves. Although both of them are quite energetic but for different reasons. The Doctor is quite enthusiastic in his intellectual endeavours (making him the savvy one) while Derpy's fanon characterization emphasizes on her bubbly personality.
• Straight Man and Wise Guy:
  • Carrot Top and Derpy usually do this routine whenever they're interacting with each other.
  • Dinky being the straight filly for Derpy's ditzy antics is also common.
  • Oddly enough, Derpy seems to act as the straight mare for Doctor Whoove's strange unpony-like ways.
• When You Coming Home, Dad?: One popular reason why the father is always missing.
• Who's Your Daddy?: Fans have never truly decided who the father of her daughters is. The most popular choice seems to be Doctor Whooves. Ponet is another somewhat popular choice, mostly because he's a unicorn with similar colors to Dinky, though since "Baby Cakes" shows that a unicorn parent isn't required for a unicorn child, this has died down a little in favor of the Doctor. Somewhat more popular amongst the fans is that The Doctor isn't the father of Dinky at all, but rather came in later to help out the struggling single mother.

Doctor Who Ponies

Since the discovery of Doctor Whooves, fans began to associate other ponies with the Doctor Who series. Ponies with hourglass cutie marks, for example, have been suspected by fans as timelords. Here are a list of those ponies and their relation to the Doctor Who series and what the fans think they are similar to.

The Doctor Ponies

Aside from the brown pony, fans have also noticed ponies that bear resemblance to the Doctor's past incarnations. Those that are seen as this have similar qualities that point out that they are somehow also the Doctor. Particularly possessing an hour glass cutie mark, being a stallion, and having some resemblance to the Doctor they are being associated with.

Tenth Doctor

The brown Earth pony with an hourglass cutie mark. Possibly the most well known Doctor look-a-like within the fandom. Is said to resemble the Tenth Doctor David Tennant. Similarities include both hair style and color and being both brown in color scheme/theme as the Tenth have a fondness of wearing brown clothes.

Eleventh Doctor

A grey Earth pony with black hair and an hourglass cutie mark. Wears a tophat, collars and a bowtie. Is said to resemble the Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith. Similarities to 11 include hair style, fondness for bowties, and wearing formal wear that resembles (if barely) the one that he wore in some Doctor Who episodes featuring him.

Second Doctor

Others see the pony suspected as the Eleventh Doctor as the Second Doctor Patrick Troughton or as fans call this pony with him in mind; Patrick Trotton. Similarities include hair color... and that's about it.

Fifth Doctor

A blue Earth pony with blond hair. Wears white collars and a red bowtie. Is said to resemble the fifth Doctor Peter Davison. Similarities include hair color and, barely, clothing due to the white and red color scheme (the pony wears a white collar and a red bowtie. The fifth wears a white collared shirt that's red underneath).

Third Doctor

The background unicorn pony Pokey Pierce but with an hourglass cutie mark and a standard horn instead of a sharp one. Wears a red jacket with a white puffy cloth tucked in the chest^note Not sure what this part of clothing is called. Is said to resemble the third Doctor Jon Pertwee. Similarities include hair style (both have wavy hair) and color (almost; both have white hair but Pokey has light blue streaks) and wearing clothing closely similar to what the third Doctor had worn.

Other Characters

Aside from the Doctor himself, other Doctor Who characters have also been associated with ponies that seem to have a connection, resemblance, and/or similarities.

The Master

Others see the pony suspected as the Fifth Doctor as the Master^note The Shadow Archetype to the Doctor. or, to be precise, his Harold Saxon regeneration. Similarities include hair color (towards the Master's resurrected form which was blond^note This form was formerly a brunette and (barely) hair style.

Romana

A blue unicorn pony with blue hair with white streaks and an hourglass cutie mark. Fans mostly know her for her other Fan Nickname; Colgate. Her canon name is Minuette. Is said to be Romana, a female timelord (or "time lady"). Fans have associated this background pony to Romana solely because of the fact that she was the only female with an hourglass cutie mark at the time of her fan nicknaming.

Rose Tyler

Rose or Roseluck has been sometimes associated with a Doctor Who companion of the same name solely because of their connection to the word rose.

Doctor Whoof Companions

Given the popularity of Doctor Whoof/Whooves, most fan works have him paired up with a companion as the Doctor is almost never without one. Shipping may or may not also occur.

Derpy Hooves

The most popular companion of choice for the Doctor, most likely due to Derpy's own popularity and the ensuing hilarity that would come from combining Derpy's ditziness with the Doctor antics.

Twilight Sparkle

Not a background pony, but Twilight is usually the first choice for Doctor Whoof companions when it comes to the Mane Six. This is probably because she is the main character and is the most intellectual.

Pinkie Pie

A popular second choice for a companion in the Mane Six due to her Fourth Wall breaking tendancies, hidden intelligence and her somewhat sad past. Sometimes portrayed as an Expy of New Who companion River Song or less frequently Amy Pond.

Minuette/Colgate/Romana

As mentioned in the Doctor Who Ponies folder, Minuette is sometimes seen as an Expy of classic Doctor Who companion Romana, though sometimes Minuette is shown as just a normal unicorn who gets caught up in the Doctor's adventures.

Rose/Roseluck

As mentioned in the Doctor Who Ponies folder, Rose is sometimes seen as an Expy of... Rose. Not as popular as you'd think, but there's still some fanworks featuring Roseluck with the Doctor.

Apple Bloom

Like Twilight, not a background pony, but due to a scene where she tries to intimidate the Doctor into buying some apples, she's been a popular choice as a companion, jokingly comparing her to Donna.

Other

Tropes for companion ponies

The Twin Ponies List

Fans seem to have the tendency of interpreting ponies that look similar to each and are often seen together as twins. Here are the list of those supposed twin ponies and their similarities and differences compared to each other.

The List:

Flitter and Cloudchaser

Similarities

• They have similar eye color.
• Their eye design is basically the same oval shape.
• They basically have the same coat colors with the other one being only slightly lighter or darker in shade.
• They have the same body type suggesting they're about the same age.
• They are of the same race — both are pegasus ponies.
• They are both female/mares.

Differences

• They have different hair styles.
• Their hair colors are different.
• Cloudchaser has eye liners or just a more noticeable natural eye outline.
• Flitter is wearing a pink bow.
• Fanon They have contrasting personalities (based on appearance).

Lotus Blossom and Aloe

Similarities

• They have the same hairdo.
• They have similar eye color.
• They both have a Rarity-like eye design.
• They have the same color scheme.
• They have the same body type suggesting they're about the same age.
• They are of the same race — both are Earth ponies.
• They are both female/mares.
• They have the same cutie mark.
• They wear the same accessories.
• Fanon Their personality is similar.

Differences

• Their hair colors are swapped.
• Their coat colors are swapped.

Fanon Tropes:

• Always Identical Twins: Lotus Blossom and Aloe. They look exactly alike (including their cutie marks), except that they are Palette Swaps of each other.^note Aloe has a pink coat with a blue mane; Lotus has a blue coat with a pink mane.
• Half-Identical Twins: Flitter and Cloudchaser are similar enough to be interpreted as twins but are still different enough to be seen as a rare case of female fraternal twins.
• Hair-Contrast Duo: Lotus and Aloe. Not just their hair but their coats are also included.
• Twincest: This sort of shipping wasn't just innevitable with both sets of twins, but also pretty damn popular around the fandom.
• Sibling Yin-Yang:
  • Lotus and Aloe's color schemes are the same except that they've been swapped.
  • Flitter and Cloudchaser seem to be like this personality-wise.

The Music Ponies

Apparently, all the "music ponies" in Equestria know each other if Fanon is to be believed. This list includes all musician ponies and background ponies with music related cutie marks. Take note that not every music ponies are listed here at the moment due to lack of notability or that we haven't added them as of yet.

Vinyl Scratch and Octavia

Due to the stark contrast in their preference of music genres and personalities, it's very common to see Vinyl Scratch and Octavia as rivals, best friends or even lovers (often in a form of a love-hate relationship). Vinyl Scratch usually gets on Octavia's nerves due Scratch's brash behavior. Octavia is usually depicted as the Blue Oni to Vinyl's Red Oni. The duo is often placed into a Straight Mare and Wise Pony scenario, acting as each other's Foils. There's a recurring Running Gag in fan work where Octavia remarks something about Vinyl (often criticism) and she'll take Octavia's remark as if it were a compliment usually "Oh, Octavia. You say the nicest things." or something similar. Vinyl will often attempt to lighten-up the serious and uptight Octavia with varying results.

When presented with each other's favorite music genre, reactions ranges from utter annoyance and dislike to the point of covering their ears in agony to making fun of/mocking each other's musical preferences though depictions of them giving each other's preferences a chance is not unheard of.

Lyra and Octavia

Lyra is sometimes shown to be friends/rivals to Octavia for the opposite reason, they have similar taste in music and thus competitors.

Noteworthy and others

Noteworthy was sometimes shown to be friends with Lyra and Vinyl before "Best Night Ever" aired and gave us Octavia.

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Fanon Tropes:

• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Usually happens at the end of a shipping story with Octavia in it.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Whenever Octavia is involved in a relationship with other characters.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Octavia and Scratch are usually depicted as this though portrayals of them in a deeper relationship are also common.
• Like an Old Married Couple: This is the middle ground depiction to Scratch and Octavia's relationship between Vitriolic Best Buds and Slap-Slap-Kiss or is used as a Bait-and-Switch scenario for what seems to be another shipping fan fiction.
• Odd Couple / Odd Friendship: Octavia and Vinyl. A friendship/romance between a classical musician and a DJ.
• One True Pairing: The Octavia and Vinyl Scratch shipping is almost as popular as the Lyra and Bon Bon shipping.
• Opposites Attract: The driving force behind the Octavia / Scratch shipping.
• The Rival:
  • In fan works, Lyra and Octavia are usually seen competing with each other. Showing off their musician skills in an attempt to outdo one another.
  • Vinyl Scratch is sometimes seen competing with Octavia as well but most of the time they just argue about why the other's genres suck and why their own genre is better.
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: This is usually the case when Tsundere!Octavia and Vinyl Scratch are depicted as a couple.
• Straight Man and Wise Guy: The pony that usually fill the role of the straight mare is Octavia while Lyra and Vinyl Scratch are usually the wise ponies. Noteworthy doesn't seem to have a prominent role as of yet.
• Tomboy ad Girly Girl: Vinyl is potrayed as the boisterous and laid-back tomboy and Octavia is the elegant and classy girly girl.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Scratch and Octavia are often depicted with this kind of relationship when they're depicted as best friends.

Lyra and Bon Bon

Another popular fanon pairing (even more than shipping the main characters) is these two background ponies. Lyra is mentioned above. Bon Bon is a cream-coated earth pony with a blue and pink mane. Of the two, Bon Bon has had the most speaking parts (Bon Bon's parts include looking for Fluttershy in "Green Isn't Your Colour", fending off Apple Bloom's advances in "Call of the Cutie", gushing over the enchanted Smartypants doll in "Lesson Zero", complaining about her rotten cider in "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000", and wanting to hear a joke in "Putting Your Hoof Down", whereas Lyra had no lines at all until "A Canterlot Wedding, Part 1"). The idea started when these two ponies were shown together in the background of some scenes (as background ponies tend to do), with fans liking the idea of them being in a relationship. The main reason the two ended up together in the show was more "aesthetic reasons". Fan reaction helped persuade the artist behind the San Diego Comic-Con poster to put them together. Looking at each other. Most fanworks, whether text or art, have them as at least good friends, with Bon Bon occasionally reacting to Lyra's human-like habits (see Lyra above). As a nod to the fans, the crew put the two of them in the background of an episode where they appear together by a well, only to have Derpy pop out of the well and ruin their moment. Later, another episode showed Bon Bon wearing a saddlebag with a clip shaped like Lyra's cutie mark. In Equestria Girls, Rainbow Rocks, human Lyra and Bon Bon have a piano duet together where they get very close. Season 5's "Slice of Life" seemed to imply they were together without actually saying it, and from there things slowly escalated...

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Fanon Tropes:

• Ascended Fanon: Towards the final season, Lyra and Bon Bon were increasingly depicted in canon with greater Pseudo-Romantic Friendship overtones. This came to its climax in the season 9 episode "The Big Mac Question", where they are shown mutually proposing to each other. In other words, they're no longer implied girlfriends, they're explicitly fiancees in canon.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Although they're frequently depicted as lesbians in fan work, them being just close friends are not unheard of. This is indeed how the show staff see them... or, rather, it was.
• One True Pairing: Of all the shipping pairings in this fandom, there seems to be some unwritten law of fanart/fanfiction that these two are not to be shipped with anypony but each other. How extensive is this? The first reaction to any other pairing is cries of "Lyra is cheating on Bon Bon!" and vice versa.
• Running Gag: Lyra's eccentric behavior is usually met with a Facehoof from Bon Bon in fan work.
• Satellite Character: Outside of their relationship, Lyra still has her interests in humanity, but for a long time Bon Bon generally only had her varying voice (which in the show isn't even specific to her). Her being revealed to be a secret agent in Season 5 gave much more for fandom to work with, with even a book in the expanded universe starring the pair becoming a duo in the agency.
• Straight Man and Wise Guy: Their usual role when in a comedy story in fan work, with Bon Bon being the straight man to Lyra's wise guy.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Bon Bon is usually depicted as the girly girl and Lyra as the tomboy.

Caramel and Big Macintosh

Caramel first appeared in the season 1 episode “Winter Wrap Up” alongside Big Macintosh, looking rather guilty. Big Macintosh wanted to talk with Applejack but before he could explain anything AJ already responded with “Oh, good gravy. Caramel lost the grass seeds again, didn't he?”

The fact that Caramel was one of a few background ponies with an official name immediately created the interest of the fans. Soon the first people started to ship him with Big Macintosh and eventually "CaraMac" became a popular — if not the most popular – male pairing in the Fandom. This ship is not nearly as popular since the events of "Hearts And Hooves Day" showed Caramel having a girlfriend, and Big Macintosh with at least a passing interest in girls as well.

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Fanon Tropes:

• Heterosexual Life-Partners / Ho Yay: Whether or not they are sexually attracted to each other, the fandom sees them with a strong relationship.
• One True Pairing: Probably one of the best known male-on-male pairing within the fandom next to Breaburn and Big Macintosh.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Obviously, Caramel as the Sensitive Guy and Big Mac as the Manly Man.

Berry Punch and Berry Pinch

Fans have always depicted them as mother and daughter. This is due to a scene in the episode "Bride Gossip" where we see Berry Punch pulling Berry Pinch into her house to protect her from Zecora. Both Berry Punch and Berry Pinch also appeared in Diamond Tiara's cute-ceañera party in the episode "Call of the Cutie". Cute-ceañera happens to be a celebration for ponies who just got their cutie marks. Berry Pinch was a blank flank when she appeared in "Bridle Gossip" but she now bears a three gems cutie mark in this episode. Fans have interpreted this that Berry Pinch was also celebrating her newly acquired cutie mark and that this is also the reason why Berry Punch was there further hinting that the two are related somehow. The show hasn't hinted exactly how these two are related to each other, however. For all we know she might be her aunt, older sister, legal guardian, foster parent, nanny, babysitter or even a random stranger who happens to see a vulnerable filly in front of her house. We may never know for sure but what is certain is that their mother-daughter relationship has become a part of the brony community's collective fanon.

Fanon Tropes:

• My Beloved Smother: Berry Punch's other Fan Nickname, Over Protective Parent Pony (more commonly referred to as OPPP), is a reference to their scene in "Bridle Gossip" though the trope itself is rarely if not at all invoked in their fan depictions.

Screwball and Discord

Discord and Screwball as father and daughter is a popular fanon relationship between these two characters. How this came to be^note like how Discord can have a daughter of a different species—though this is Discord we're talking about here so it makes this question moot.^note or how the fandom came up with this conclusion in the first place. is still under research. It seems to come from the fact that Screwball only appeared during Ponyville's "chaos-ification", her out of the ordinary swirly eyes, her screwy behavior, her suspiciously accurate cutie mark^note which consist of a baseball and two screws which begs the question on how a pony could get such a cutie mark and how being screwy is a talent, and her physics defying means of locomotion^note though this might be just Discord's altered version of Physics™ in the works.

Fanon Tropes:

• Evil Parents Want Good Kids: Most of their depictions together shows Screwball as a nice pony.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: They have a happy father-daughter relationship together in their fan depictions. The only time that they're not happy is when Discord is turned to stone again. Screwball lamenting over her petrified father's statue is a common fan depiction for this.
• Morality Pet: Screwball is often depicted as this to Discord.
• Truly Single Parent: Being a spirit of chaos, anything is possible for Discord, up to and including pulling a pony out of your own body.

Other Relationships

As with the background ponies list, this section are for recurring fanon relationships within the fandom that, as of yet, have not reached critical mass to require its own stand alone section.

Trivia

Thunderlane and Blossomforth

Shipping between these two new characters^note though technically Blossomforth already appeared in Merchandise before has already started popping up. Probably due to their interaction with each other in a scene in "Hurricane Fluttershy".

Bulk Biceps^note The overly muscled white male pegasus with the tiny little wings that always shouted "YEAH!" from "Hurricane Fluttershy". and Featherweight^note The buck toothed, camera toting pegasus foal from "Ponyville Confidential."

Due to their contrasting looks (the former being an uber-manly muscle pony, while the latter is very small and lanky with long limbs), they're frequently cast as a father/son or some other kind of mentoring relationship.

The Screwy Mares^note There is no universally accepted name for their group as of yet. This name serves only as a placeholder.

A fanon relationship involving Derpy Hooves, Screwball and Screw Loose as best friends.

Vinyl Scratch and Berry Bunch

They're often depicted as drinking buddies.

Fanon Tropes

• Big Brother Mentor: Bulk Biceps and Featherweight.
• Big Guy, Little Guy: Again, Bulk Biceps and Featherweight.
• Comic Trio: The Screwy Mares. Which one fulfills each role depends on the fan author.
• Homosexual Reproduction: With all the same-sex shipping everywhere, fan stories like these pop up from time to time.
• Pseudo-Romantic Friendship: This is inevitable in a female-dominated show.

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