My Little Pony: The Elements of Harmony: Friendship is Magic: The Official Guidebook
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from Trottingham, while FEATHERWEIGHT
is a Pegasus pony as well as the editor in
chief of the Foal Free Press newspaper.
Featured in “Luna Eclipsed,” “Putting Your
Hoof Down,” “Ponyville Confidential.”
Pony Power Makes a Mark
Growing up can be difficult, especially when it comes to finding
your niche. Many young ponies in Equestria yearn to discover
that special something that makes them unique and allows them
to stand out in the crowd. Once they discover their true calling, a
symbol known as a cutie mark magically appears on each ponies’
hindquarters. Not all cutie marks are as literal as others, and many
of them are simply meant to represent a positive feeling that the
pony radiates to the world. But the road to finding one’s true talent
can be very frustrating for an anxious pony with a blank flank who’s
waiting patiently to bloom.
Before cutie marks appear, ponies must seek out life experiences
so they can truly discover who they are and what their calling may
be. It’s important for them to try different things, put themselves
in other ponies’ hooves, and keep on learning as much as they can.
There’s no set age when cutie marks appear; they might come right
away or years down the road. The key to
unlocking a pony’s true potential remains
a mystery. But any elder pony will tell
young ponies that even though the
wait for a cutie mark may be difficult,
it’s more about the journey than the
destination.
Scootaloo concept art
by Lauren Faust
“It’s not too hard to
describe what an animal
character might be feeling or
trying to communicate in a script;
the real challenge is up to the
storyboard artists and the animators
to make sure the emotions are
coming through in the expressions
and body language.”
— Lauren Faust,
show creator
ZECORA is a zebra who uses her
ancient magic to cast healing spells
from her enclave deep within the
Everfree Forest. The ponies of
Ponyville once believed her to
be an enchantress who
wielded the darkest of
magic, but after admitting
that they’d misjudged her,
they befriended Zecora and
often rely on her wisdom.
Featured in “Bridle Gossip,” “Cutie
Pox,” “Luna Eclipsed,” “Magic Duel.”
“Zecora
was supposed to
be a second mentor to
Twilight. I created her so
that whenever the ponies had
an adventure that needed a lot
of explanation in the setup, they
would have Zecora for a quick and
simple source for exposition. (In
fact, there was a scene where she
did just that in the pilot, but it had
to be cut for time.) Things just
didn’t pan out that way as we
made the episodes.”
— Lauren Faust,
show creator
CHIEF THUNDERHOOVES is
the wise and proud leader of the
buffalo tribe that sought to reclaim
Appleloosa from its pony settlers
and repurpose it as a traditional
stampeding ground. With the help
of a young and agile buffalo named
LITTLE STRONGHEART, the tribe was able to
come to an agreement with the ponies, allowing
them both to share the orchard.
Featured in “Over a Barrel.”
CRANKY DOODLE DONKEY may be a crotchety
old grouch who’s reluctant to loosen up, but
all that changed when the sweet-natured
MATILDA came around. Matilda met the cranky
mule at the Grand Galloping Gala, where he began
courting her as his “special friend.” Matilda is the
only one who’s allowed to call him by the nickname
“Doodle.”
Featured in “A Friend in Deed.”
IRON WILL is a muscle-bound minotaur who
travels throughout Equestria as an inspirational
speaker. He loves using his positive mantras
and high-octane energy to get ponies up and
moving. Iron Will has an enormous ego and
often refers to himself in the third person
because he loves to hear his own name.
Featured in “Putting Your Hoof Down.”
GUSTAVE LE GRAND is a boastful griffon baker
who believed his treasured éclairs would win
first place at the National Dessert Competition.
Gustave had some stiff competition from
MULIA MILD and her famous “mousse
moose,” not to mention DONUT JOE and his
mini city made of donuts known as
“Donutopia.”
Featured in “MMMystery on the
Friendship Express.”
MANNY ROAR, a manticore, is an intimidating sight with his lion’s
mane, scorpion’s tail, and scaly wings, but this angry beast can be all
bark and no bite, especially when he is shown a little bit of kindness.
Featured in “Friendship is Magic, Part 2.”
STEVEN MAGNET, the sea serpent of the river,
is quite a testy fellow. When Nightmare Moon
cut off part of his mustache, he went into a tizzy.
Thankfully, Rarity used her magic to solve the
problem, and in return the sea serpent offered
himself as a much-needed bridge to the other side.
Featured in “Friendship is Magic, Part 2.”
Manticore development
art by Lynne Naylor
DARING DO
MS. HARSHWHINNY
CRYSTAL EMPIRE
TOURIST
Animal Friends
Fluttershy thinks ANGEL the bunny is just as cute
as can be! But looks can be deceiving, because he’s
always keeping her on her toes with his bossy,
demanding, and childish ways.
Featured in “Putting Your Hoof Down.”
WINONA is Applejack’s loyal work dog who
absolutely adores helping her herd the flock.
Featured in “Just for Sidekicks,” “The Last Roundup.”
Be careful what you put in front of GUMMY,
because he’s likely to grab it! But don’t blame
Pinkie Pie’s pet alligator so quickly. He doesn’t
mean any harm; it’s just his nature.
Featured in “Just for Sidekicks,” “Party of One.”
OPALESCENCE, or Opal for short, may seem fluffy
and sweet, but that’s only when she’s manipulating
her owner, Rarity. This feisty little kitty has been
known to hiss when she doesn’t get her way!
Featured in “Just for Sidekicks,” “Suited for Success.”
“I do think Angel Bunny is one of the most
conniving and willful characters on the show. He has
Fluttershy completely under his cute little paw!”
—Jim Miller, storyboard supervisor
On the outside, PHILOMENA seemed like a poor,
suffering, and squawking old bird, but Princess
Celestia’s pet had a secret. After losing her feathers
and bursting into flames, she transformed herself
into a beautiful
phoenix.
Featured in “A Bird in the Hoof.”
A PHOENIX is a mystical bird that
sheds its feathers and is reborn in an
explosion of brilliant flames.
Featured in “A Bird in the Hoof,” “Dragon Quest.”
OWLOWISCIOUS is Twilight Sparkle’s
adopted pet owl. At first, Twilight’s assistant,
Spike, thought he faced some stiff competition
when Owlowiscious appeared, but he quickly
realized that the bright-eyed bird was just being
his regular helpful self.
Featured in “Just for Sidekicks,” “Owl’s Well That Ends Well.”
Rainbow Dash assumed the little tortoise
known as TANK was boring and slow, and
could never be as exciting as she was—until
he heroically saved her from a rock slide!
Now she’s proud to call him her pet!
Featured in “Just for Sidekicks,” “May the Best Pet Win!”
PEEWEE became Spike’s pet when he hatched from a
phoenix egg! A group of bad dragons tried to persuade
Spike to smash the egg when he found it, but thankfully
he didn’t. Now he and Peewee are the best of friends.
Featured in “Dragon Quest.”
Character concept art
by Lauren Faust
“I’m quite
partial to Applejack’s
canine pal, Winona. She
reminds me a lot of my own dog,
Ripley, who just might be the
best dog in the world!”
—Jim Miller, storyboard
supervisor
“Gummy is my
favorite. The idea of a toothless
pet alligator is gold.”
—Ridd Sorensen, art director
“While it’s always
nice to see someone
learn from their mistakes, I do
enjoy having a few villains remain
villainous and never change. As a fan
of comic books, I do love when certain
exciting baddies return time and again
to vex our heroes. There are always new
and interesting things that happen
when we get to further explore their
relationships.”
—Jim Miller, storyboard
supervisor
NIGHTMARE MOON is the maleficent alter
ego of Princess Luna. In the dark form of
Nightmare Moon, Luna is consumed with
spite and enjoys manipulating unwilling
ponies to do her bidding. Imprisoned in the
moon, Nightmare Moon became even more
dangerous when she escaped.
Featured in “Friendship is Magic, Parts 1 & 2.”
Nightmare Moon concept
art by Lynne Naylor
“I really enjoyed
working with Rebecca Dart in creating
Queen Chrysalis . . . though all I had to do was
approve the amazing design!”
—Ridd Sorensen, art director
QUEEN CHRYSALIS is the shape-shifting
leader of the changelings, a vicious group of
creatures who are bent on destruction and
mayhem. The queen even tried to take over Canterlot by using her
powers to impersonate Princess Cadance and destroy the kingdom.
Featured in “A Canterlot Wedding, Parts 1 & 2.”
CHANGELINGS are grotesque shape-shifting
ponies who can morph their bodies into anything.
These frightening creatures have fangs as well as
insect features and translucent wings designed to
scare even the bravest pony into submission.
Featured in “A Canterlot Wedding, Part 2.”
KING SOMBRA ruled the Crystal Empire thousands of years ago
but was banished and turned to shadow. Before he disappeared, the
snarling black-hearted monster made the kingdom disappear and
destroyed hope and love in the process. He recently returned but was
thwarted by Twilight Sparkle and her pony friends.
Featured in “The Crystal Empire, Parts 1 & 2.”
“The most underestimated villain on the show
would easily have to be King Sombra. I think, if given the chance,
he could do some serious damage throughout Equestria.”
— Ishi Ruddell, animation director
Discord concept art
by Lauren Faust
DISCORD is a draconequus, a rare beast with a pony head and a
body comprised of many nasty creatures. He was once imprisoned
in stone by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna but escaped, only
to be defeated by the power of friendship. He’s since reformed and
struggles to keep out of trouble since he knows that Twilight Sparkle
and her friends would use the Elements of Harmony against him if
he ever unleashed chaos.
Featured in “The Return of Harmony, Parts 1 & 2,” “Keep Calm and Flutter On.”
“I don’t think I’d want to
reform all of our villains. I don’t think that
would be realistic. No matter how hard you try, some people
(or evil alicorns) just aren’t going to change their ways. But for a
character like Discord, ‘reforming’ him allows us to tell new stories
with his character. He gets to be the not-always-reliable ally
instead of the known enemy.”
—Meghan McCarthy, story editor
“Every character has room to grow and
learn from their mistakes, and a good villain will still
have a sense of humanity that can be related to. Otherwise they are
just ‘bad for bad’s sake’ and cannot be identified with. Not every villain
we’ve had on the show has had a heart (that we’ve seen yet), but it’s nice
when we can work it in; it helps the viewer care about them . . . even
when they’re bad.”
— Jayson Thiessen, supervising director
The traveling magician TRIXIE believes
she’s quite superior to other ponies and
has been known to exaggerate her abilities
from time to time. Recently, the Great and
Powerful Trixie became remorseful once
she was shown the error of her evil ways.
Featured in “Boast Busters,” “Magic Duel.”
GILDA is a mythical griffon, a creature with the
head and wings of an eagle and the body of a
lion! She was once friends with Rainbow Dash
and loved good old-fashioned pranks. But Gilda’s
insecurities about being seen as cool caused her
to fall out of favor with her friend.
Featured in “Griffon the Brush Off.”
Gilda concept art
by Lauren Faust
“I particularly enjoyed writing
Flim and Flam. They are villains, but they are
designed to be charming and disorienting. They speak very
quickly. They finish each other’s sentences. They’re in constant
motion. Everything they do is designed to dazzle and confuse people, so
they can shake your hand while they’re stealing your wallet. You can see their
charm in action when the song ends and Apple Bloom is 100 percent ready to take
their deal. This is the reaction the brothers are used to. In the midst of the song,
one of the brothers confuses Applejack enough that she agrees to give them some
apples for their demonstration. And when you’re writing characters like
that, their energy and optimism infuses the actual writing. I wrote that
episode very quickly b
ecause their dialogue flew through my
head as fast as it appears on-screen.”
— Mitch Larsen, writer
The FLIM FLAM BROTHERS are a pair of
salespony tricksters who travel from town
to town, using song and dance to trick ponies
into buying their wares. But it’s all just a
sham—the Unicorn duo are often run right
out of town when their faulty products and
shady tricks are revealed!
Featured in “The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000.”
The DIAMOND DOGS, known as FIDO,
ROVER, and SPOT, may be big and
brutish, but don’t be fooled, because
these canines aren’t very bright. If you
ever find yourself up against them,
don’t despair; their thirst for shiny
gemstones makes them easily trickable.
Featured in “A Dog and Pony Show.”
GARBLE is the teenage leader of a gang of
fire-breathing dragons who challenged Spike to a series
of trials to test his mettle. But these bad-natured
bullies didn’t take into account Spike’s friends, who
defended him using the power of friendship!
Featured in “Dragon Quest.”
“Because we are writing for children,
I think it is important for some villains to learn
from their mistakes. Kids need to see that bullies and bad
guys can change if given the chance. Sometimes kids may see these
characteristics in other kids they know or even in themselves. If they
then see that a villain can have a change of heart, then maybe
they can implement that in their own lives.”
—Amy Keating Rogers, writer
Other Beasts
Deep within the Everfree Forest live
the dangerous TIMBERWOLVES! Few
venture into the green so as not to come
face-to-face with its dark protectors.
It’s been said that the howl of the
timberwolf is the first sign of the yearly zap apple harvest.
Featured in “Family Appreciation Day,” “Spike at Your Service.”
The COCKATRICE is a rare beast that has the head
of a chicken and the body of a snake. But don’t stare
at this creature for too long, because one glance
from the cockatrice can turn a pony to stone!