Main Index The Main Cast: Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Starlight Glimmer, the Cutie Mark Crusaders Supporting Cast: The Princesses (Princess Celestia, Princess Luna), Mane Family Members, the School of Friendship, Ponyville, Other Locations, Animal Companions Antagonists: Major Villains (Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra, Lord Tirek, Cozy Glow), Dangerous Creatures, Jerks and Bullies, Redeemed Antagonists (Discord) World of Equestria: Races, Historical Figures, the 2017 Movie, Expanded Universe, Toyline Exclusive, Miscellaneous Minor Characters: One-Shots, Other Characters, Background Ponies (Common Background Ponies, Special Background Ponies, Other Background Ponies) Equestria Girls: Heroines (Sunset Shimmer), Villains, Supporting Cast
"When I first started working on the show, I never expected people to latch on to the background ponies like they have. It's nice to see."
— Nayuki, one of the show's layout artists on The Allspark Forums
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic's extras. Some of these ponies are the most popular characters in the show besides the mane cast. Pretty much why the show has its own Ensemble Darkhorse page. Perhaps it's the unique art style that gives them a little bit more personality or perhaps it's the memorable gag scenes they feature in. Whatever the reason, the fans can't get enough of them and for there to be Ensemble Darkhorses, there must be an ensemble — others of these ponies are nowhere near as well-known, but appear just as prominently and/or frequently.
"Background pony" is a somewhat misleading term; It's more of a catch-all term used by the fanbase to refer to all the show's Recurring Extras, Bit Characters, Living Props and Spear Carriers that are not part of the supporting cast like Big Macintosh and Zecora. Basically a "background pony" can be any extra and not just the background characters.
Take note that most of them have no official name within the show. Nevertheless, fans love naming these nameless ponies, how matter how far back in the background they are. Some of these fan nicknames have even been used by Hasbro and other licensed sellers themselves. Other times they'll release a different name for the character. Either way, most of them have, so far, only been used in MLP:FIM products and merchandise.
Not all background ponies are listed here though. Some of them have been placed in other character pages since they fit the description. Others have not been listed yet. Most of those who barely made it here (i.e. barely enough tropes to qualify for a section of their own) are clumped together in the Other Background Ponies Page.
For more in-depth analysis and various fanon trivia, go to the Background Ponies Analysis page.
Background Characters Pages
Generally Shared Tropes
- All There in the Manual:
- Golden Harvest & Lyra Heartstrings's trading card reveals that "There's two in every crowd! Lyra Heartstrings is an excitable pony often seen bouncing and grinning at the back of the herd or lolling in the park sharing bonbons with Golden Harvest, her PFF. Golden Harvest earned the nickname Carrot Top because carrots are always on her mind. These two ponies can be found all over Equestria, enjoying various activities like jumping across rooftops, running from buffalo, and joining in musical numbers!"
- DJ Pon-3 & Octavia's trading card shows DJ Pon-3's properly-lit colors and reveals that "DJ Pon-3 and Octavia may both be at the top of their musical games, but their careers are very, very different! You can find Octavia at garden parties and galas performing prim and proper classical music on her cello. On the other hoof, DJ Pon-3 feels at home behind her turntable, laying down sick beats and wearing her trademark sunglasses. Are these two bitter rivals, or are they long time friends? Will they ever perform a duet? Only time will tell!" (In "Slice of Life", we learn that they're friends who live together, and we see them duet.)
- Golden Harvest & Lyra Heartstrings's trading card
- All There in the Script: Out-of-show medianote have used the following names: Action Shot, Aloe, Amethyst Star, Apple Stars, Aura, Banana Fluff, Berry Dreams, Berryshine/Berry Punch, Big Wig, Big Shot, Blue Moon, Bright Bulb, Candy Apples, Cerulean Skies, Charged Up, Cherry Berry, Cherry Fizzy, Coco Crusoe, Comet Tail, Crafty Crate/Ship Shape, Cream Puff, Crescent Moon, Dance Fever, Derpy Hooves/Ditzy Doo (Derpy), Diamond Mint/Mint Jewelup, DJ Pon-3/Vinyl Scratch, Doctor Whooves XI, Dr. Hooves/Time Turner, Dr. Mane Goodall/Mane Cureall, Eff Stop, Emerald Green, Felix/Lucky Streak, Finish Line, Fire Chief, Fleur Dis Lee, Full Steam, Gizmo/Poindexter/Gyro, Golden Harvest, Goldengrape, Grape Delight, Green Jewel, Helia, High Spirits, Holly Dash, Honey Rays, Hughbert Jellius, Jack Hammer/Drill Bit, Jeff "The Dude" Letrotski, Jesús Pezuña, Jetstream, Lady Justice, Lemon Hearts, Lemony Gem/Lemony Gems, Lilac Links, Lily Valley, Liza Doolots, Lotus Blossom, Lucky Clover, Lucky Star, Lyra Heartstrings, Lyrica Lilac, Meadow Song, Merry May, Midnight Strike, Minuette, Neon Lights/Rising Star, Night Watch, Noteworthy, Nurse Redheart, Nurse Snowheart, Octavia Melody, Orange Swirl, Parcel Post, Pearly Stitch, Pinny Lane, Pinprick/Royal Pin, Prism Glider, Professor Bill Neigh, Purple Wave, Pursey Pink, Rainbow Blaze, Rainbowshine, Rare Find, Raven, Rein Astley, Royal Riff, Sassaflash/Emerald Gem, Savoir Fare, Screwy, Sea Swirl, Shoeshine, Silver Spanner, Sprinkle Medley, Star Hunter/Solar Wind, Sugar Twist, Sunny Rays, Sunny Smiles, Sweetie Drops/Bon Bon, Sweetie Sunrise, Tropical Storm, Truffle Shuffle, Twilight Sky, Twinkleshine, Vidala Swoon, Walter, Wensley, White Lightning, and Wild Fire.
- Ascended Fanon: The Merch by Enterplay (trading cards) and Mighty Fine (apparel, art prints, etc.) includes a lot of Official Fan-Submitted Content and is thus more likely to reference or use Fan Nicknames (see All There in the Script above for a list) and/or Fanon concepts like Derpy being a mailmare and Vinyl having bright red eyes. Derpy was the first to have any Ascended Fanon in the show itself; with many others following suit. Particularly in "Slice of Life", which was A Day in the Limelight for many of them, in particular the Background Six—Derpy, the Doctor, Lyra, Bon Bon, Vinyl, and Octavia, who all were elevated to supporting cast status for the rest of the series.
- Bit Character: Most of the recurring special ponies with a job or role are these. You'll see them whenever the cast goes to their place or require their services. They'll usually appear in an episode, do their thing, maybe even have a little chat or two with the major characters and then leave or disappear until they are needed again. They also help move the plot along through their own little way (you can't have a spa scene without the spa ponies operating the spa itself right?). Without them, the cast would have to do everything themselves. If they get really lucky and get an important role, they may be promoted into minor character.
- Depending on the Artist: Backgrounds ponies are quite inconsistent despite seeming to have some form of consistency to them. There are a number of reasons why this happens:
- Animators would modify their original design to suit the scene or scenario they are currently a part in. "Wild West setting? Add cowboy hats!", "Cloudsdale? Add wings!", "Balloon popping scene? Make horn sharper!" and so on and so fort.
- Most background ponies are not officially recognized as their own characters, and so their behaviors, voices, roles and so on have little in the way continuity and consistency unless it is necessary for the scene or if they are popular with the fanbase. That said, part of the fun about these particular ponies for the fanbase is the act of "connecting the dots" and forming consistent stories and entire characterization out of these data even though that wasn't the crew's intention.
- They are second priority at best compared to the major characters so attention to detail is minimal, resulting in inconsistensies.
- Besides "crowd of ponies" and "pony(s) doing something", the specific background ponies used for any given role are not actually specified in the script so the animators are free to choose which pony(s) he or she will be putting into those positions and roles. Add that to the fact that individual scenes are being worked on by different people and you get the infamous "teleporting pony" and "clone ponies" effect.
- Expy: A number of them look like previous generation ponies, leading them to be
Fan Nicknamed as such. - Faceless Masses: Averted. Everypony has a face, no matter how insignificant they are to the plot. That's why this page is so large in the first place.
- Fangirl: In "The Mysterious Mare Do Well", several of them are shown to be members of the Rainbow Dash Fan Club (or at least fans of her) and some later become fans of Mare Do Well, including Sweetie Drops, Daisy, Ruby Pinch, and Dinky.
- Flat Character: Most of them are so they wouldn't steal the spotlight from the major characters.
- Funny Background Event: Many of the background ponies are used for Funny Background Events, most prominently Derpy Hooves, Lyra Heartstrings, and Sweetie Drops.
- Lyra and Sweetie often have these moments together. For example, fighting under the influence of the "Want It, Need It" spell while Rarity and Fluttershy are talking to each other in "Lesson Zero".
- In one shot of the episode "Secret of My Excess", Spike is walking in Ponyville with Lyra and Sweetie talking in the background, then Derpy pops up between them. From the inside of a well.
- Ghost Extras: The lower end tier of being a background pony. They're just there walking/flying around, occupying space. Rarely or never interacting with anyone and vice versa. Hardly ever noticed by fans or the audience.
- Heroes of Another Story: They seem to be having their own little adventures if you follow and observe them from the background. Especially so with Derpy or Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops.
- Hive Mind: Not in-universe, but when they appear multiple times in the same scene, you'll sometimes see things like all the copies of a certain pony blinking at the exact same time.
- Inexplicably Identical Individuals: Ponies looking just like them appear in flashbacks to different times, making them either this, Older Than They Look, or Uncanny Family Resemblance.
- Living Prop: Most of the background ponies are just there to make a scenery alive and populated. Sometimes they say a few lines and then they return to their business of whatever it was they're doing earlier.
- No Name Given: Leading to plenty of Fan Nicknames. The ones that do have in-show names are Rosenote , Daisynote , Caramelnote , Mr. Breezy, Sunny Daze, Peachy Pie, Lickety Split, Junebug, Stinkin' Rich, Derpynote , Mr. Waddle, Mr. Greenhooves, Thunderlane, Flitter, Cloudchaser, Silverspeed, Blossomforth, and Rumble; some more have All There in the Script names (listed under that trope above). Moondancer, Bumpkinnote , Ditzy Doonote , Mr. Kingpin, Wild Bull Hickok, Calamity Mane, Thornhoof, and Namby-Pamby have been mentioned but not shown.
- Ascended Fanon later kicked off and canonized the names for many others. DJ-Pon-3, Bon Bon, and Lyra in particular were later referred to as such in several episodes in the show.
- Older Than They Look: Ponies looking just like them appear in flashbacks to different times, making them either this, Inexplicably Identical Individuals or Uncanny Family Resemblance.
- Only Six Faces: Animators often reuse parts (or create new ones) and swap them in different combinations à la Character Customization to create new characters, swapping mane and tail models and adding or removing wings and horns in order to quickly create large crowds of background characters without having to spend excessive time designing unique models for every background extra. Further, any given combination of elements is often given numerous recolors to create "new" models. Here are just some of the background ponies who share character models:
- Common mare model designs:
- Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, etc. (who also have the same tail style as Golden Harvest, Daisy, etc.) A more simplistic design compared to the other swirly haired ponies.
- Minuette, Sea Swirl, etc. Short mane, and the hair is solid and basic.
- Lyra Heartstrings, Amethyst Star, Rose, Lemony Gem, Silverspeed, etc. Similar to the model Minuette and Sea Swirl use, but their manes and tails divide in several pointy locks, giving them a messier look.
- Berryshine, Cherry Berry, etc. An interesting characteristic of this model is its hair style, which "ends" in small bulby clumps of hair which makes it resemble bunches of grapes.
- Sweetie Drops, Shoeshine, etc. Each of the streaks in the model's manes terminate in a single swirl of hair.
- Golden Harvest, Daisy, etc. (who also have the same tail style as Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, etc.) The edges of their hair contain smaller swirls and are clumped closely together, giving the mane a "poofy" look.
- Lightning Bolt, Sprinkle Medley, etc. Their hair uses a simplified hair design for curly haired folks that's commonly used in western animation since its early days (i.e. the "looping" outlines).
- Cloud Kicker, Merry May, Lily Valley, etc. A basic and simplistic design, neat and clean looking with the bangs sweeping inwards.
- Derpy Hooves, Raindrops, etc. Another basic and simplistic design.
- Rainbowshine, Dizzy Twister, etc. Similar "clumpy" look to Berryshine and Cherry Berry's model, but the mane is short and the clumps less pronounced.
- Sassaflash, Parasol/Showers, etc. Largely the same as Cloud Kicker and Merry May's model, but with rounded bangs instead of tapered ones.
- Common stallion model designs:
- Ponet, Pinprick, etc.
- Dr. Hooves, Meadow Song, Lucky Clover, etc. Messy brush upped mane, short but similarly messy hair.
- Coco Crusoe, Goldengrape, Noteworthy, etc. Messy mane, short but similarly messy hair.
- Cherry Fizzy, Caramel, Ace the Tennis Pony, Royal Riff, etc. Smooth and neatly groomed mane and tail.
- Common foal model designs:
- Piña Colada, Aura, Noi/Sweet Wheat, Sunny Daze, etc. (who also have the same tail style as Shady Daze, etc.) Many background Earth pony fillies use this character design.
- Ruby Pinch, Fire Chief, Tootsie Flute, etc. Almost all background unicorn fillies use this character design.
- Peachy Pie, etc. Many background Pegasus fillies use this character design.
- Tornado Bolt, Cotton Cloudy, Alula, etc. Many background Pegasus fillies use this character design.
- Shady Daze, etc. Almost all background Earth pony colts use this character design.
- Uncommon model designs:
- The nurses Redheart and Tenderheart.
- The spa ponies Aloe and Lotus. There's also a third "spa pony" who appears in "The Show Stoppers" and gets a rainbow afro courtesy of the CMC — whether she's related to the other two remains to be seen.
- The scarecrow-costumed band from "Luna Eclipsed" consists of recolors of Octavia, Harpo, and the two bandmates they had in "The Best Night Ever". Notably, Harpo's banjo playing counterpart looks like Dr. Hooves.
- Common mare model designs:
- The Other Darrin: If a background pony speaks in more than one episode (and sometimes even within the same episode, as with Twinkleshine), they will almost always have a different voice, due to background pony identities being picked by storyboard artists and layout artists after voices have been recorded. Bon Bon was one of the most noticeable examples of this until Season 5's "Slice of Life", where Andrea Libman became her permanent voice actor from that point onward.
- Palette Swap: Often in conjunction with Only Six Faces, the show's animators would also reuse the same combination of parts and recolor them to make another background pony.
- One of the major examples of this are the background ponies themselves. See the Only Six Faces trope above to see the various palette swaps. Any given background pony design is typically recolored multiple times to create many different models to give crowd shots variety — as a couple of examples among many, many others, the pegasus mare designs known as "Cloud Kicker" and "Merry May" are identical in everything except the first being lilac and blonde and the second green with a magenta mane, while the lilac and pink mare named by the fandom as "Rainbowshine" has an orange recolor named "Orange Swirl", a blue one named "Blueberry Punch", a gray one named "Dust Twister", and so on and so forth.
- Various other extra animals and creatures are also palette swapped.
- The various rabbit extras are all palette swaps of each other.note They usually come in brown, yellow, white and grey, with the addition of antlers making jackalopes.
- The different colors and patterns of cows, though some of them have different hairdos which also makes them Only Six Faces.
- Some groupsnote of birds which come in almost as many different colors as the ponies do.
- The tribe buffaloes from Over the Barrel come in three different shades of brown, but are otherwise identical.
- Some groups of dragons from Dragon Quest — the migrating dragons seen at the beginning, specifically, use only two models recolored over and over.
- The parasprites, recolored over and over in blue, brown, pink, orange and purple.
- Grey and brown bats, a literal rainbow of fruit bats and grey, slate blue or brown vampire fruit bats.
- Sometimes they even recolor non-background ponies to make new background ponies.
- One of Caramel's variations, seen in the first opening and in the show proper during "Green Isn't Your Color", "Lesson Zero", "Putting Your Hoof Down" and "Magical Mystery Cure", is a Big Macintosh recolor.
- Two Trixie recolors are seen in a shot near the end of "Bridle Gossip". One of them is seen again when part of the shot is reused at the beginning of "The Return of Harmony - Part 1", and makes a few appearances during "A Friend in Deed" using two different generic background pony designs.
- Holly Dash from "Swarm of the Century" is a freckled unicorn recolor of Rainbow Dash, though she has only been seen in a pony galloping animation loop so far so we don't know what her mane and tail normally look like in an idle stance. Ponies with the Lyra Heartstrings/Amethyst Star model tend to use Rainbow Dash's running animation when they gallop, specifically how the mane and tail are drawn, so it's possible that she would most likely look like them when she's not running.
- An Earth Pony recolor of Scootaloo has appeared twice: sitting in the front row of Cheerilee's class during "Call of the Cutie" and playing an arcade game during "Hearts and Hooves Day".
- "Call of the Cutie" also includes one recolor each of Sweetie Belle, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. The Sweetie Belle recolor appears in the front row of Cheerilee's class and due to an animation error is replaced by Sweetie Belle herself during two different shots. The Diamond Tiara recolor appears at the cuteceañera, walking alongside Twist during one shot. The Silver Spoon recolor also appears at the cuteceañera, wearing a hat which Apple Bloom tries to hide behind during one shot.
- In "Green Isn't Your Color", Tootsie Flute becomes a Scootaloo recolor for one shot, losing her horn as a result.
- "Over a Barrel" has a half-example: a strange variation of Cherry Berry can be seen bucking trees when the citizens of Appleloosa are frantically harvesting apples before the buffalo attack. Her back half has her usual design, but her front half is a recolor of Applejack's, minus the tied-up bit of hair at the end of her mane. She also wears a duplicate of Applejack's hat at one point and reuses one of Applejack's tree bucking animation sequences from "Applebuck Season".
- The cast of the play in Rarity's flashback during "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" includes a pair of fillies who are recolors of Pinkie Pie and Applejack. The Pinkie Pie recolor is dressed as a piece of cake and the Applejack recolor is dressed as a bunch of fruit with a hat made to look like a bowl of fruit.
- The crowd during the final shot of "The Return of Harmony - Part 2" includes a few recolors, including a Fluttershy recolor who appears a couple of times and at least one Twilight Sparkle recolor.
- The bellhop from "Sweet and Elite" is a recolor of Snails.
- The nurse filly from "Read It and Weep" is a recolor of Twist, only differing in mane color and cutie mark (and with a nurse cap instead of glasses).
- The pegasus colt from "A Friend in Deed" is a recolor of Dumb-Bell.
- A Fluttershy recolor with Rarity's eye design appears four times at once near the end of "Magical Mystery Cure".
- Promotion to Opening Titles: The second opening includes more of them than the first opening does, though not all of the ponies from the first opening return.
- Recurring Extra: They show up everywhere! Lyra Heartstrings holds the unique distinction of appearing in nearly every town that's been shown so far, only absent from Manehattan and Dodge Junction. They tend to be dressed up while in Appleloosa, Dodge Junction or some parts of Canterlot which may indicate that they're actually Identical Strangers.
- She's a Man in Japan:
- All of the background stallions who appear in the Blind Bags. Apparently some of the foreign language translations on their collector cards call them female. But seeing as Big Macintosh's and
Barber Groomsby's cards apparently do the same thing, it almost certainly wasn't intentional and most likely isn't indicative of those languages' dubs of the show. - The Hungarian dub of "The Last Roundup" has Derpy speaking with a male voice.
- All of the background stallions who appear in the Blind Bags. Apparently some of the foreign language translations on their collector cards call them female. But seeing as Big Macintosh's and
- Ship Tease: While "Hearts and Hooves Day" does show at least one background pony Official Couple (Caramel with Sassaflash, plus a few more heavily implied couples), the episode has many more pairs of background ponies simply standing beside other in aerial shots of Ponyville, including Derpy Hooves with Dr. Hooves and Mr. Waddle with the light purple elderly earth pony mare. One of these aerial shots is reused a couple of times in "Ponyville Confidential", strengthening the Ship Teases in said shot.
- Spear Carrier: Most of the lesser one shots are these. They show up, say something and/or do stuff and then is never seen again. Though if they're fortunate, they'll reappear and do their role once more (or even do a new one) and be promoted to Bit Character.
- Stock Costume Traits: All the ponies with defined careers are dressed like this to make them stand out from the rest of the herd.
- Suddenly Voiced: Several ponies' individual voices aren't heard until after the season of their debut.
- Toyless Toyline Character: Most of them started off this way as most of the toyline characters outside of the main cast are God-Created Canon Foreigners, which is sort of odd as you would think Hasbro would want them to be the show's background ponies, though this is slowly being remedied as more background ponies are getting toys and one of the toy ponies (Blossomforth) has made the jump to the show.
- Uncanny Family Resemblance: Ponies looking just like them appear in flashbacks to different times, making them either this, Inexplicably Identical Individuals or Older Than They Look.
- Vague Age: Like the mane characters, the exact age of background ponies are unknown beyond "child", "teen/adult" and "elderly".
- The Voiceless: Plenty of 'em; named ponies who haven't been shown speaking at all include Sunny Rays, Holly Dash, Berry Dreams, Lilac Links, Mr. Breezie, Twilight Sky, Banana Fluff, Jesús Pezuña, Jeff "The Dude" Letrotski, Lickety Split, Silverspeed, and Midnight Strike. Named ponies who almost count include DJ Pon-3note , Sunny Dazenote , Peachy Pienote , and Blossomforthnote .
- You ALL Look Familiar:
- They often appear multiple times in the same scene.
- Cutie marks aside, Golden Harvest, Goldengrape, and Cherry Fizzy respectively look exactly the same as Apple Family members Caramel Apple, Red Delicious, and Golden Delicious.
- You Are Number 6:
- Not in-universe, but since the majority of them are unnamed and many of the ones who are named are only named in the toy line, the animation studio gives the generic incidentals this treatment. For example, Lyra Heartstrings has been called Incidental Unicorn #2 by layout artist Nayuki, who also mentioned that Derpy Hooves is not Incidental Pegasus #2. Character designer Rebecca Dart designed a bespectacled old male pony (either Mr. Waddle or his Palette Swap from "A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2" and "Magical Mystery Cure"; almost certainly the former pony) as Incidental Senior Pony #3, and layout artist FlashinthePan once mentioned an "incidental_party_pony" file.
- Due to a Blooper in one shot during "Suited for Success", one Cloud Kicker has the number 71 on her neck. In the description of a since removed video of an unfinished version of the scene, its animator boomstix said "Finally sorry but i made a slipped up there and cause a bit of stir where the pony on the right (near spike's chin) have this tattoo '71' written on it, I didnt see it because of the lag until its too late, im not gonna say what it meant I ot even sure i have to divulge what its suppose to be" [sic].
- Not in-universe, but since the majority of them are unnamed and many of the ones who are named are only named in the toy line, the animation studio gives the generic incidentals this treatment. For example, Lyra Heartstrings has
- You Don't Look Like You:
- In the toys and their art, nearly all of the background ponies who appear in the toy line are reduced to Palette Swaps of other ponies, and a few of them have color differences of various degrees. The only known exceptions are Cherry Berry and Sunny Rays' Pony Wedding brushable toys, the Miniature Collection's Spa Pony Set, and the Ponyville Schoolhouse toy (which has a picture that uses the original designs of Sunny Daze and the filly who was dressed as a flower for the play in Rarity's flashback during "The Cutie Mark Chronicles").
- Earth ponies Sunny Daze, Peachy Pie, and Junebug look very different. On top of all three of them having different coat and mane/tail colors to various degrees, Sunny Daze becomes a Pegasus, Peachy Pie becomes a young adult with a different-looking cutie mark (an updated version of her G3 cutie mark; her in-show cutie mark is similar to Applejack's but with peaches and the "point" of the triangle formed by the fruit facing the opposite direction), and Junebug becomes a unicorn.
- A few ponies have different-looking cutie marks: Banana Fluff (gemstones instead of hearts, but in a similar pattern and two-thirds similarly colored), Cherry Berry (but only in the Blind Bags, not in the brushables), Golden Harvest (two carrots instead of three), Noteworthy (three eighth notes instead of two beamed notes), Merry May (sun-colored flowers instead of suns, but still in the same pattern), Peachy Pie (detailed above), Rainbowshine (the Rainbow Lite's top arc being purple instead of blue), and Royal Riff (only slightly).
- The Blind Bag toys and collector cards' colors don't always match each other. This has happened in different ways to Lyra Heartstrings, Royal Riff, and Sassaflash. Judging by the Wave 3 Blind Bags' packaging, that wave's artwork for Lyra Heartstrings was colored to match a prototype toy rather than the final toy.
- In the toys and their art, nearly all of the background ponies who appear in the toy line are reduced to Palette Swaps of other ponies, and a few of them have color differences of various degrees. The only known exceptions are Cherry Berry and Sunny Rays' Pony Wedding brushable toys, the Miniature Collection's Spa Pony Set, and the Ponyville Schoolhouse
