Many background characters in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic garnered a lot of praise and attention from the Periphery Demographic, despite several of them not having any lines and a few more only making a few background appearances. Because of this, for the sake of neat archiving, the Ensemble Dark Horse characters can be listed here.
There's a tendency to add every character in the show to this page; remember that Ensemble Dark Horse is a relatively narrow term. Here's a good heuristic: Was the character introduced along with their toy-line, has a Celebrity Voice Actor, or given a lot of advertising? Then they were meant to be popular, and it worked. This isn't bad — plenty of characters are meant to be popular but aren't — but it's not this trope. But if the character was introduced quietly, with no particular advertising or attention, and then got toys and merchandise well after their debuts? They're almost certainly this trope. Especially if they got their own episodes.
Supporting Cast
- No discussion of the shows Ensemble Dark Horses can be complete without mentioning Princess Luna, coincidentally a literal Dark Horse who's part of an Ensemble, even though she's long since become prominent in the show due to popularity enough she no longer qualifies. In the series premiere she was only mentioned the opening exposition, had less than a minute of screen time and only two lines. Fans desperately wanted to see her return, disappointed that a character with such potential was barely utilised, and flooded fan-fiction websites, image boards, and forums with content about her. Helping was that her Superpowered Evil Side Nightmare Moon had a cool design, powers, and backstory plus was the franchise's first actual villain since G1 reversing it from being overly saccharine. In Season two she only had two cameos in the season finale and one Day in the Limelight episode with "Luna Eclipsed", but said episode furthered her popularity with many entertaining quirks to run with and validating the fandoms Woobie portrayal of her with her struggles to be accepted.
- Although Zecora had a pretty rough start with the fans in "Bridle Gossip", fan opinions of her eventually turned around thanks to episodes such as "Swarm of the Century", "The Cutie Pox", and "Secret of My Excess", thanks to her incredibly creative rhymes, her endearing mentor relationship with Apple Bloom, and her ever-increasing Deadpan Snarker tendencies.
- A lot of adult fans of the show tend to express interest in Gilda the Griffin. Her hot temper and past times with Rainbow Dash make her a unique specimen to say the least.
- Pinkie Pie's baby alligator Gummy, commonly appearing in many fan works and is one of the most popular pets. His nihilistic state of mind in the 100th episode sealed his spot at number one of the pets.
- Cheerilee is a popular target for fanart and fanfiction from her very first appearance, being a teacher a good excuse to include her in any number of scenarios. Her popularity only grew during season 2, which gave her more screen time and even her own episode, "Hearts and Hooves Day", in which she featured alongside fellow dark horse Big Macintosh.
- She's apparently popular over in Japan, even getting her own slot in the end credits roll call along with the Mane Cast.
- Daring Do, the star of the Book Within a Show that Rainbow Dash becomes a fangirl of in "Read it and Weep". Her being an Indiana Jones expy has made her really popular material for fanfics and art. Many pictures of involving Rainbow Dash have a tendency to include her in some form. (Such as a book or a plushie.) She acquired enough love to have a rather detailed Just For Fun page all to herself, and some fans actually started writing stories based on that page. Yes, this character is popular enough to get an entire metafictional spinoff series out of thin air.
- The Season 4 episode that de-fictionalized the character has caused some conflict in the fandom over whether or not they liked the idea, but she's still a fairly popular character.
- Lightning Dust only appeared in one episode in the third season, but her Villainy-Free Villain status and her very likable personality lends her to Draco in Leather Pants treatment. Further, she makes a perfect Shadow Archetype to Rainbow Dash, being just as skilled as her and having a similar personality, only a little bit more selfish and reckless. Even though she did NOT make a proper re-appearance on the show until Season 8 (not counting her prior appearance as a filly in a flashback), it's common to find her depicted as Rainbow's rival/friend/wingpony.
- Soarin of the Wonderbolts managed to capture a lot of attention amongst the fanbase when his name and personality was established in the Season 1 finalenote . He even got a cameo in the Royal Wedding where he was seen wearing a dress uniform and dancing with Rainbow Dash and later played a more significant role in "Rainbow Falls"
- The Flim Flam Brothers, whose affability and extremely catchy Villain Song made them stand out amongst other secondary/minor antagonists. This earned them a few cameos in the comic series, a second appearance in season 4 a third in season 6 and a fourth in season 8.
- Fans of Hulk Hogan and Mr. T became big fans of Iron Will. He tends to appear very often in fan made music videos on YouTube.
- Fluttershy's temporary bat form in the episode, "Bats!" quickly spun-off a lot of fan art and Internet memes. Rarity dubbed the resulting creature "Flutterbat", which the fandom latched onto. There was an explosion of fanworks to say the least. A high-quality, fan-made plushy was sewn within 24 hours. The form appears in the Season 5 Halloween special, and in the IDW comics with bat forms for the rest of the group.
- From the episode "Rarity Takes Manehattan", we're introduced to a pony named Coco Pommel. Her cute looks and sweet demeanor earned her a fanbase and a lot of artwork in hours after the episode aired, plus it's hinted at that she'll return in a later episode. She's without question one of the most popular of the key givers introduced in season 4 (only rivaled by Cheese Sandwich), to the point where a return appearance in season 5 was eagerly expected and did not disappoint.
- Even though not everyone is particularly fond of the Breezies, most people seem to like Seabreeze, a particularly hot-tempered Breezie who not only is the Only Sane Man of the group, but also has a perfectly relatable reason for being mean to his comrades, because he might get separated from his wife and child.
- While "Somepony to Watch Over Me" is usually perceived as a pretty low-key episode, the Chimera that tries to hunt Applebloom in the Flame Geyser Swamp is widely loved by the fandom. Not only is she a famous mythical creature many wanted to see in the series, her striking design makes her among the most terrifying monsters in the show, yet she also displays some genuinely amusing Laughably Evil qualities thanks to her three heads, all of whom address each other as sisters and accordingly act like bickering siblings. The fact she's fairly accurate to her mythological counterpart in spite of having minor differences is another factor for her popularity.
- Fans have desperately been wanting to see Pinkie's siblings make an appearance on the show, so when one finally did in the form of Pinkie's older sister Maud Pie, it should come as a surprise to no one that she'd earn a fan base long before her episode even aired! She's unique considering her personality is the polar opposite of her sister's, while still possessing the eccentricity you'd expect from a Pie. Thanks to her popularity she received multiple appearances in the show and also a brief surprise cameo in Rainbow Rocks.
- Pinkie's other sister Marble Pie (previously known as Blinkie) has quite the following among Bronies after her appearance in Season 5. Some fans were a bit upset that we ended up meeting the later-revealed third sister Maud Pie in the show before we got to see Marble in the present day. She has a popular Ask a Pony blog centered around her and her sister Limestone
, and there's lots of fanworks that speculate what she's like in the present day. - Season 5 introduced 4 ponies, Party Favor, Sugar Belle, Double Diamond, and Night Glider, nicknamed The Equal Four who quickly impressed fans when they provided assistance to the Mane 6 after they were Brought Down to Normal during the opening 2-parter. Notably, Party Favor has already a few memes based on him (not to mention getting shipped with Pinkie Pie) and Sugar Belle had a full fan-plush commissioned both less than a day after the fifth season's premiere (although Sugar Belle would later become rather divise among the fans for her relationship with Big Macintosh).
- Even before her premier in "Make New Friends But Keep Discord", Tree Hugger amassed a following due to her hippie vibe and completely relaxed attitude. Much of the fandom has designated her as Granola Girl and her name makes her prime shipping fuel for Fluttershy.
- Moondancer has an interesting relationship with this trope. While she was mentioned in the very first episode, she was never seen; the only lines mentioning her stated she was throwing a party that Twilight rejected in order to save the world. For a long time, she was essentially an O.C. Stand-in for Twilight's Canterlot friends. But come "Amending Fences", Moondancer is revealed to be a bookish, sweater-wearing meganekko who was absolutely traumatized by Twilight's rejection. The sheer woobieness of the character, plus the callback to Twilight's original Adorkableness, sent her skyrocketing in popularity.
- Tender Taps only has one major role in "On Your Marks" and a few cameo appearances in other episodes, but he's acquired a respectable amount of attention in fanart and fanfiction, while also being a popular ship for Apple Bloom.
- Ember, introduced in "Gauntlet of Fire" and the first-ever female dragon with a name and a major speaking role seen on the show, had a large amount of fan art within one day of her debut. Being a Princess with a cool design probably helped.
- Ember is also a popular ship for Spike almost rivaling Rarity!
- Thorax, introduced in "The Times They Are A Changeling", had a sizeable fandom from the moment he debuted for being the first good changeling to appear on the show, with a large amount of fanart within a day of his debut episode airing, not too dissimilar to Ember. It helped that he was an Adorkable Nice Guy, which endeared him to the fans.
- Mrs. Shy, Fluttershy's mom, had fanart even before her first appearance in "Flutter Brutter".
- Saffron Masala from "Spice Up Your Life", thanks to her unique design and colorful personality.
- Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail quickly gained a huge fan base and spawn off a ton of fan arts due to the great chemistry the two of them have together. Needless to say, they are popular for shipping. Vapor Trail is clearly the more popular of the two because of how similar she is to Fluttershy.
- If you thought Nightmare Moon was hard core, the Season 7 episode, "A Royal Problem", introduced us to Princess Celestia's evil counterpart: Daybreaker! Needless to say, she has inspired many fan works as well.
- Applejack's parents, Bright Macintosh and Buttercup (nee Pear Butter). By the time of their debut, they had already been the subject of years' worth of speculation and fanon. After "The Perfect Pear", the general consensus is that they acquitted themselves magnificently.
- Toola Roola and Coconut Cream, the fillies in the B storyline of "Fame and Misfortune". Them getting over their fights with each other through reading friendship lessons endeared them to the mane cast and the audience, becoming the only truly nice characters introduced in the episode. It also helps that the two are references to the G3 franchise, with Toola Roola having the same cutie mark.
- Star Tracker has become a popular pony for Twilight shipping.
Background Ponies
Nearly every single background character is given at least a name by the fans, if not an entire personality and history (especially if they have a unique design), and they'll receive fanart within a day of airing. Below are above & beyond the most popular and the ones the fandom is most familiar with.- No discussion on Ensemble Dark Horses can even be started without mentioning Derpy Hoovesnote , the Recurring Extra that's gotten the most love from fans and the show's staff. In a background shot of episode 1, a grey pegasus pony with wonky eyes was spotted, and swiftly Derpy was born, a strange but surprisingly competent mailpony who loves muffins, often derps reality, and in spite of her difficulties is very friendly and hard-working. In "Feeling Pinkie Keen", she managed to become a combination Ascended Meme/Ascended Extra, Lauren Faust herself said "She can be Derpy if everyone likes" (during production of season one, none of the background ponies had official names), and in season 2 she got her own little gag scenes. Not bad considering her googly eyes were just a random joke thrown in by one of the animators.
- Her astronomic popularity even extends to other background ponies. When a unicorn filly with similar coloring was spotted it led to the creation of Dinky Hooves, Derpy's daughter. One of the few things fans agree is that Derpy and Dinky are a happy family (sometimes married to Time Turner/Dr. Hooves, mentioned below), and Dinky is the most popular child character outside the Cutie Mark Crusadersnote with tons of fanart and fanfics involving the two, often resulting in hearts being melted.
- Her popularity reached its apex in "The Last Roundup", where the first scene after the credits featured Rainbow Dash actually having a whole slapstick routine with her, where she gets several lines and is explicitly addressed as "Derpy". However, when "The Last Roundup" suddenly disappeared from iTunes, then later restored with Derpy's scene modified with tweaked dialogue (she was no longer referred to by name and had a different voice), the fandom absolutely exploded with panic and anger towards Hasbro, displaying the sheer level of reverence that had been given to the pony. Ultimately the explanation for the change was that there were complaints Derpy was a stereotype of the mentally disabled, and the arguments about this among the fans were often heated and ugly.
- Official merchandise is not safe from the power of Derpy. She has a 2012 limited-edition pony for San Diego Comic-Con and the Orlando MLP Fair (complete with derped eyes and muffin box art), the Midtown Comics exclusive cover of the comic book series (there is, of course, a half-eaten muffin), and a set of vinyl molded figures of Derpy released by Hot Topic (all the thousands of figures made of Derpy sold out in four minutes!).
- Fans were taken by surprise in the episode "Rainbow Falls", where she made a surprise appearance as Rainbow Dash's replacement for the Equestria Games, making her more popular with the fans than ever.
- Before that, she had a few blink and you'll miss it background appearances in the season 3 finale, "Magical Mystery Cure".
- She has made several appearances in Rainbow Rocks as well.
- Derpy also pops up in the iOS game as a surprise, albeit unnamed, character who gives you extra bits and gems when you find her. She was likewise made an unnamed cameo in Rarity and the Curious Case of Charity, where she delivers Rarity's acceptance letter, displaying enough of her fan traits that it was blatantly obvious who it was.
- She played a very big role in the episode, "Slice of Life", and according to the end credits of that episode, she was officially given the name: "Muffins", which got mixed reactions from the fans.
- Another background foal got added to the fanon family (as Derpy's son or younger brother) after appearing with Derpy in The Cart before the Ponies, a Derpy-like colt the fans have dubbed Crackle Pop or Derby Hooves.
- Lyra Heartstrings, a mint-colored unicorn with a lyre cutie mark, who gained the attention of the fanbase by often being seen hopping up and down with an excited look on her face as if she's mugging for the camera or engaged in a Funny Background Event, most notably sitting or otherwise acting in a semi-human-like manner. It became one of the fans' (many) memes to depict Lyra as the pony equivalent of an otherkin, wanting in one way or another to be human. She was nicknamed just "Lyra" by the fandom (a name adopted by WeLoveFine), then officially named "Heartstrings" by Hasbro, which led some fans to Take a Third Option and call her "Lyra Heartstrings". Then Hasbro finally used this name as well. After two seasons of complete silence in the English versionnote , she finally got to speak a few lines in "A Canterlot Wedding", along with Minuette and Twinkleshine, two other well-liked background ponies.note
- Lyra often appears alongside a pony that appears to be an Expy of Bon Bon from My Little Pony Tales (and is fan nicknamed as such, although merchandise now officially names her Sweetie Drops), originally due to the way their colorations complement each other (as is standard practice with the placement of background ponies in crowd shots). This circumstance resulted in a lot of fan works depicting the two together in some way, whether as best friends, roommates, or romantic partners. And while Bon Bon doesn't get nearly the same amount of attention on her own as Lyra does, the two together are the most widely accepted pairing, and basically the OTP of the fandom. Yet another aspect of fanon that has been recognized in official media, such as being intentionally placed together in the famous Comic Con poster◊ and having Funny Background Events in several episodes (such as "Secret of My Excess", where they share one with Derpy). By the end of the series, they're an Official Couple, being shown as Happily Married in the series finale.
- Bon Bon does have one bit of notoriety among the fans: she is easily the most talkative of the background ponies. To date, she has spoken in five separate episodesnote , each time with a totally different voice. This has led to the fanon meme that she is or aspires to be a voice actor, which was turned on its head in episode 100, which revealed her as a secret agent.
- Time Turner/Dr. Hooves, a male Earth pony with an hourglass cutie mark and spikey brown hair that reminded some fans of David Tennant, spawned endless Doctor Who crossovers and the fanon that Equestria has (or had) their own version of Time Lords. Word of God says his look initially was a coincidence; his fandom interpretation was alluded to by his manning the hourglass in "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000", lording over time in a way, and by one of the official trading cards that says he is responsible for "pretty much all things timey-wimey." "Dr. Hooves" or "Doctor Hooves" was originally spelled as "Doctor Whooves" (which is Ascended Fanon, unlike his other Fan Nickname "Doctor Whoof"), but its letter W was removed, thus Writing Around Trademarks of The BBC. However, the box of his vinyl figure lists him as "Doctor Whooves" - how they got that around the trademarks is anyone's guess.
- During the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, the BBC seemingly were aware of Doctor Hooves, it seems they don't have a problem with it.
- The comic series has had multiple covers and background jokes related to him being the Doctornote , and since it was acknowledged by the BBC they've even put a reference to it in the actual show. In the episode "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies" there's a shot of him wearing 3D glasses like the 10th Doctor did in one episode and hanging out with a female pony named Roseluck, who has a similar name to the 10th Doctor's first companion (Rose Tyler).
- Then, he was finally voiced in episode "Slice of Life", when he is given a (British Accented) speaking part, is shown to be a mad scientist who has studied time travel, and has an exceedingly long scarf. Plus, he hangs out with Derpy. Not to mention he's centuries old and his voice actor stated he played him with the view that he is actually the Doctor, just as a pony in this world.
- One particular episode has a grey pony with the exact same Cutie Mark. It's worth noting that he shares the 11th Doctor's hairtstyle.
- During the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, the BBC seemingly were aware of Doctor Hooves
- A female DJ unicorn that appeared for less than five seconds in "Suited For Success", doing nothing but turning on music and bobbing her head, garnered a huge following, generally called Vinyl Scratch due to the name given to her by Lauren Faust herself when she drew a commission, though other fans prefer her stage name that was spawned at the same time, "DJ P0N-3" (Twilight Sparkle herself addressed her by the latter name in a Season 6 episode.) The "DJ Pon-3" name was acknowledged in The Hub's Equestria Girls and There's a Pony For That commercials, and she's one of the few extras to receive her own official t-shirts and a brushable toy. She eventually returned in "A Canterlot Wedding", this time showing what color her eyes are underneath her Cool Shades (the most popular fan theory was that her eyes were red – they turned out to be magenta)note
- Her popularity has earned her a more prominent role in the second Equestria Girls movie, even getting to be the star of the first of eight short features that were released with the movie, "Music to My Ears". Not only that, but she's arguably had the most significant time onscreen, playing a key role indirectly arriving at the climax to help the cast.
- Her popularity has earned her a more prominent role in the second Equestria Girls movie, even getting to be the star of the first of eight short features that were released with the movie, "Music to My Ears"
- Octavia, one of the musicians who first appeared in "The Best Night Ever" (the cello/bass player), obtained an enormous amount of attention from fans, with stories and drawings galore, and even her own theme music; pretty amazing considering she had pretty equal screentime with her bandmates. Her resemblance to one of Pinkie's sisters also fueled a lot of Wild Mass Guessing for a while (see below). She's since appeared on the Comic-Con 2011 poster/desktop background, gained a Palette Swap in "Luna Eclipsed", returned to the show during "Sweet and Elite", been included in the Valentine version of Card Creator, and been featured on the licensed shirts and art print Musical Pony Battle, Octavia Disdainful Glance, and Dancing Ponies.
- Octavia and Vinyl Scratch/DJ-Pon3 also form the fandom's second OTP, despite having never being shown in the same episode at the time. Be it through an Odd Friendship, familial relations, romance, or being roommates, these characters will always have some relationship with each other when depicted in the fandom. This was given a nod in season 5, which showed them as music judges in a dream sequence, and ultimately became accepted canon shortly after in the 100th episode, which has them sharing a house in Ponyville together.
- Octavia gains spoken lines in Rainbow Rocks courtesy of Kazumi Evans, who later reprised the role in the 100th episode. She even sounds British, as in most popular interpretations.
- Golden Harvest (nicknamed Carrot Top), a yellow earth pony with an (usually) orange mane, gained some popularity due to a popular fan comic depicting her as Derpy's roommate or best friend. Fanon usually has her as the Straight Mare to Derpy's goofiness (which got a Fandom Nod in ("Luna Eclipsed") and there's a Running Gag about Derpy constantly emptying her fridge. Notably, she is one of the background ponies that's spoken the most in the series and has a memorable gag scene in "Boast Busters" where her hair is briefly green, so that probably helps her popularity a bit.
- Berry Punch (aka the Overprotective Parent Pony), a pink/purple earth pony with grapes for a cutie mark, is known for hastily dragging what might be her child inside in "Bridle Gossip" and drinking directly out of a punch bowl in "Call of the Cutie". The latter has led to her being depicted as The Alcoholic in fanon, an idea apparently shared by the storyboard artists when they put her into the scene, as revealed during an interview. She often gets paired with Minuette (see below) due the two singing together on a hill during the "Winter Wrap Up" song.
- Lilly Valley is an earth pony who appears frequently in the background in Ponyville. Some fans find her funny because she is known for having frequent panic attacks.
- A common participant in the "Brushie Brushie" meme is Minuette, a blue background unicorn who shares the same character model with Sea Swirl and an hourglass cutie mark similar to Time Turner/Dr. Hooves' Fun Fact Many fans call her Colgate for her toothpaste-like striped hair and the associated meme, and even has her own fan-made theme. Very rarely, you'll see her named Romana, named after a Time Ladynote who accompanied the Doctor for a while, because apparently having an hourglass cutie mark means you're a Time Pony. She may even have gotten her own Fandom Nod in "Luna Eclipsed" when she appeared in the episode wearing what looks like a dental surgeon◊ costume for Nightmare Night (A pony holiday equivalent of Halloween).
- After the episode "Amending Fences" where she has a major role, the fans find her very adorable.
- Though much less so than most others listed here, it's worth mentioning the female earth pony who appears on screen for about two seconds, floating through the air past Twilight Sparkle in "The Return of Harmony Part 2". As with Derpy, the overall weirdness of this character seems to have caught fans' imagination. Dubbed "Screwball", due to her cutie mark of same, she features in the occasional fanfic, including the very popular Daddy Discord video and accompanying song.
- Princess Luna's guards, ponies with bat-wings and much cooler armor than the regular guards, have only been briefly seen twice in the show (though they've cameo'd a few times in the comics). Since next to nothing is known about them, they've become popular OC Stand Ins, and inspired tons of bat pony OC's, including one for one of the show's lead story writers, Mitch Larson himself.
- The pegasi duo of Cloudchaser and Flitter managed to stand out quite a bit for the fans with their noticeably unique appearances. The two are often portrayed as being close sisters or friends in the fandom and spawned off quite a bit of fan material from artwork and blogs to repainted customs of existing figures and even some fan-created games, and the former made a return appearance in a season 3 episode.
- Pegasus brothers Thunderlane and the colt Rumble are also popular, perhaps due to being the only known pair of brothers on the show aside from Flim and Flam. These two often are shown interacting together with Cloudchaser and Flitter. Thunderlane was also prominently shown training at Wonderbolts Academy, eventually becoming a full member, and the brothers even ended up getting A Day in the Limelight with Season 7's "Marks and Recreation".
- The fans really latched onto Pipsqueak for a couple of reasons. One, he's one of the only colts in the show with actual lines. Two, he has a very unique design and distinctive voice. Three, In-Universe, his favorite princess is Luna, one of the show's Dark Horse-iest ponies. In fan works, he's usually portrayed as a juvenile Quintessential British Gentleman and tends to get Shipped with Dinky Doo a lot. Shippings with the CMC aren't that uncommon either.
- She had a rather prominent appearance in one of Twilight Sparkle's flashbacks,◊ but Sibsy's ponysona Wild Fire was recognized by fans almost immediately. This led to fan◊-art◊, and even a video or two. And that's not counting the obligatory Ask a Pony blog, her little fandom of her own, and the number of fanfiction written involving her.
- Bulk Bicepsnote YEAH!!! is very popular and instantly recognizable due to being one of the most uniquely designed pegasi around. YEAH!!! His every appearance pretty much calls for a YEAH!!! from everyone watching. He would get a larger role in the season four episode "Rainbow Falls."
- Button Mash may very well be the king of this trope. He appears for all of two and a half seconds in the beginning of 'The Perfect Stallion' song. He does not speak, he is not named, all we see of him is a colt playing on an arcade machine. A dedicated fan - Shadyvox (of Yu-Gi-Oh GX Abridged infamy) - made a pilot episode starring him that made a surprisingly large fandom for the colt. His popularity unfortunately seems to have drastically lost enthusiasm after his and many other of Jananimation's videos got into a complicated legal mistake by Hasbro, though he still features in the odd fanfic and art piece.
- Fleur dis Lee appeared twice in one episode and spoke one line, and yet seems at least as popular as her assumed husband, Fancy Pants, who has his own entry above.note It probably helps that she has an unusual design — she's a normal unicorn, yet she has the taller, longer body shape normally only used for alicorns.
- Silverspeed, a silver-maned pegasus with a bow-and-arrow cutie mark, and one of the few background ponies to be named in-show, has only briefly appeared in two episodes, but is popular enough to have recieved a variety of fan art and an Ask-a-pony Tumblr page. Given every dark horse gets one of these however, it's not saying much.
- Neon Lights/Rising Star, the spiky-maned Cool Shades-wearing Canterlot unicorn, is shipped with Vinyl Scratch almost as often as Octavia is, with his Collectible Card Game card saying that Vinyl thinks "his music is pretty sick", and he has a blind bag figure as of Wave 11.
- There's also the spa ponies, Aloe and Lotus Blossom. Their designs and frequent cameos helped contribute to their popularity.
- Maren/March/Marge/Margo/Fargo the Whinnyapolis Delegate is probably the most popular from amongst the delegates. She's eye-catching with her Russian-style winter outfit and cup of coffee cutie-mark.
- Canterlot Boutique had a large ensemble of uniquely-designed dark horses as customers at Canterlot Carousel, but among the most popular were the Bright and Goth sisters, especially due to their resemblance to Starfire and Raven.
- Then of course, there is the enormously big fat pony who randomly comes in and asks for the Princess Dress.
- "The Hooffields and McColts" brought us the three McColt mares with cutie marks of different types of saws, hence the collective Fan Nickname "The Saw Sisters", who drew a crowd of fans with their nonstandard body types and manestyles.
- Apocalypse Dash, the battle-scarred alternate version of Rainbow Dash from the Crystal War Timeline in "The Cutie Re-Mark, Part 1". Fire-Forged Friends with the Pie sisters, and has clearly seen plenty of action, and is implied to be even more badass than her mane timeline counterpart—which takes a lot of doing.
- "Flutter Brutter" had a Link pony (officially named "Quarter Hearts") which got the attention of quite a few. Needless to say, video game fanatics were ecstatic at the amount of fanfic fuel this entails, especially if you draw Epona as an MLP pony.
- The episode "Top Bolt" introduced us to Angel Wings, a pegasus with a visually striking design and an adorable moment where she wonders if Rainbow Dash actually flew her wings off once. Her Dark Horse-ness was increased when it was revealed that she was the creation of a little girl made official though the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
- The episode "The Mean 6" had clones of the Mane 6 who were absolutely hilarious despite being evil (especially Rarity's clone). They were so popular that many fans were disappointed that they didn't manage to overthrow Chrysalis and were killed off.
- From "The Washouts", Lightning Dust's fellow Washouts Short Fuse and especially Rolling Thunder have a lot of admirers.
- While hardly on the level of some of the others on this list, out of Equestria's founders, Commander Hurricane tends to get special interest in fanfics. This owes to both his badass name, and the vague depictions we get of ancient Pegasi having a strong warrior culture with elements inspired by Ancient Greece, with him being their leader.
- "Sounds of Silence" has a certain green-maned, dark brown Kirin, who goes unnamed in the episode, has drawn quite the fandom, perhaps because she's one of the first to show up, does a memetic head tilt, and the one that Autumn Blaze has to play charades with to figure out what she wants when Autumn returns from her exile. The fandom has since named her Cinder Glow.
Movie-exclusive
- The human Twilight after her appearance in The Stinger of Rainbow Rocks. This was well before her role in Friendship Games sealed her popularity, turning a retread of the first episode of the series into something more and showing a potential path her pony self could've ended up taking.
IDW Comics
- While the Retcon to Nightmare Moon's nature has been mixed, her latest incarnation, Nightmare Rarity, is easily the most popular thing to come out of the comics, impressive given she only appears halfway through her story and is a huge spoiler. Helping is that she has a cool, attractive character design, is savvy enough to know it and remain a serious threat despite lacking her previous incarnations power, and some of the comics most epic and emotional moments came out of her confrontation.
- Luna's pet opossum, Tiberius, beat out all (save Gummy) as the most popular pet, despite only appearing in the comics. Many have called for him to be a character in the actual show.
- Mirror Sombra was generally well received for being Tall, Dark, and Handsome, having better development then most of the characters originating from the comic, plausible romantic chemistry with Celestia and getting a emotional powerful Heroic Sacrifice.
- Despite being an Advertised Extra, Mirror Chrysalis has gotten a lot of love for her adorable, and being comically/brilliantly opposite to her already dark horse main universe self.
- Mina the dragon got this for being a brilliant stand-in to the series fandom.
