Creatures

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic hosts an array of creatures that have a counterpart in both mythology and fantasy, some of which are far more removed from their realistic counterpart than usual animals. A few creatures, like dragons and Diamond Dogs, have speaking roles and display sapience when interacting with the protagonists. Others behave more like animals and neither speak nor display sapience. While most beings are from real-life known myths and legends, others are completely original and made up for the show.

Ahuizotl
Ahuizotl is a character in the book Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone in the episode Read It and Weep and in the episode Daring Don't. He is Daring Do's main antagonist in her quest to retrieve the sapphire stone. He has an elongated dog-like head, except for his eyes, which are positioned over his nose at the end of his snout. He walks on all fours, with dog-like hind limbs and ape-like forelimbs, and a long monkey-like tail with a hand on its end. Ahuizotl has a tuxedo-style coat, having dark blue fur over most of his body, while his stomach, lower jaw and limbs are of a lighter blue. Ahuizotl wears golden colored jewelry, such as a necklace, a single ear ring, and three bracelets, one for each foreleg, and one around his tail's wrist. He is voiced by Brian Drummond in both episodes. His overall appearance and name mirror the mythical creature Ahuizotl from Aztec culture.

Breezie
Breezies are first introduced in It Ain't Easy Being Breezies, a group of which Fluttershy and her friends assist in migrating home. First mentioned in Three's A Crowd, Fluttershy describes them as "the rarest, tiniest, most adorable magical creatures in all of Equestria". A notable member of the Breezies is named Seabreeze.

Breezies share their name with a G3 race of fairy-like ponies.

Cerberus
Cerberus is a giant three-headed dog that appears in the episode It's About Time, interrupting Twilight's attempts to "disaster-proof" Equestria.

Cerberus' design resembles that of a black bulldog. He has red pupils and a spiked collar on each neck. As with the hydra, the three faces do not show the same expression; when Twilight first calls out to him, the heads glance at each other, and they later look up at different times when she calls out again.

Cerberus causes a massive fright in Ponyville upon appearing. According to Twilight, it is responsible for guarding the gates of Tartarus and keeping the evil creatures within from escaping. Twilight explains to Spike that with Cerberus away from Tartarus, the "ancient evil creatures" imprisoned there could escape and destroy Equestria. After Fluttershy tames Cerberus by scratching its belly, Twilight takes it back to Tartarus. The next day, Spike receives a letter from Princess Celestia reporting a missing dog; Spike replies, "I guess the Princess hasn't heard we found Cerberus yet."

In Greek and Roman mythology, Cerberus, or Kerberos, was a three-headed dog-like beast with a serpent's tail and was responsible for guarding the gates of Hades and keeping spirits from leaving. Heracles was sent to capture Cerberus as one of his twelve labors.

Changeling
Changelings first appear in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2 and are the minions of Queen Chrysalis. They have a pony-like appearance along with insect features. They change their appearance to match that of ponies; in particular, Queen Chrysalis shapeshifts into Princess Cadance, and several changelings take the form of Twilight and her friends. They have sheer insect-like wings, fangs, horns used for magic, and holes in their legs.

The changeling queen explains that the changelings feed on love; Changelings in folklore would take advantage of the love given to them by their unwitting caretakers.

Chimera
A female chimera appears in the episode Somepony to Watch Over Me. It is a fearsome creature with a tiger's front body and head, a goat's hindquarters and head on its left shoulder, and a snake for a tail. Apple Bloom encounters the monster in the Flame Geyser Swamp on her way to deliver apple pies to a faraway town for Applejack. The chimera attacks Apple Bloom with intent of eating her and the pies, but Applejack saves her and tames the monster with a snake-charming flute, a lion tamer's chair, and a hunk of ricotta cheese. The three heads address each other as sisters, and suggest a history of bickering with each other, claiming they can never agree on what to eat, and fighting over who should be in charge.

In Greek mythology, the chimera is a monstrous fire-breathing creature with the body and head of a lion, a goat's head rising from its back, and a tail ending in a snake's head.

Cockatrice
A cockatrice is featured in the episode Stare Master. Fluttershy tells the Cutie Mark Crusaders that they are fearsome, dangerous creatures that have the "head of a chicken and the body of a snake". After venturing into the Everfree Forest, Fluttershy finds Twilight turned to stone and lying on the ground with a shocked expression on her face. The Cutie Mark Crusaders witness the cockatrice turn the missing chicken into stone and are terrified. They hide behind Fluttershy, who stares at the cockatrice and demands it to restore Twilight and her missing chicken back to normal, even as she herself slowly turns to stone. The cockatrice finally relents and Fluttershy's stone shell shatters. Twilight and the chicken both return to normal, showing that the cockatrice's stoning effect is reversible; subsequently Twilight retains no memory of the event.

In of the comic series, a horde of giant cockatrices tries to invade Canterlot but Spike and Princess Celestia are able to defeat them.

The cockatrice also appears on the Comic Con 2011 promotional poster.

Cockatrices are mentioned in legend from antiquity to the Middle Ages.

Cragadile
A cragadile is featured in the episode Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 2. Its name is a play on "crocodile" and "crag".

When Twilight attempts to cross a bubbly creek in the Everfree Forest, she inadvertently awakens a cragadile from its slumber, and in its rage, it attacks her and her friends. Using the black vines that had grown all over the forest, Twilight's friends muzzle and restrain the cragadile before it could hurt Twilight.

As the name suggests, the cragadile's design mostly resembles that of a crocodile, but its hide is covered in rocks and rock spires.

Diamond Dog
Diamond Dogs are dog-like creatures who appear in A Dog and Pony Show, where they kidnap Rarity and force her to find gems with her horn for them in their underground mine. They get annoyed very often by Rarity when she complains and whines to trick them into letting her free. Their manner of speaking is reminiscent of Smeagol from The Lord of the Rings.

Draconequus
A statue of a draconequus is described by Cheerilee in The Return of Harmony Part 1 as a creature with "the head of a pony and a body of all sorts of other things". The statue happens to be Discord, who Princess Celestia describes as "the mischievous spirit of disharmony." The word "draconequus" was created by Lauren Faust, and it is composed of the Greek word drakon, meaning dragon, and the Latin equus, meaning horse. It is spelled draconequus by Hasbro's My Little Pony Twitter account, in the trading cards, and by Faust, dragonokis on The Hub's website, draconequis in the television closed captions, and draconaquis in Netflix's closed captions.

Dragon
Dragons, as they have appeared so far during the show, are a species of giant fire-breathing reptilian monsters, based on European lore, predominantly out of Scandinavian mythology. They are antagonists in the episodes Dragonshy, Owl's Well That Ends Well, Dragon Quest, and Secret of My Excess. Spike is a baby dragon, and one of the main supporting cast.

Fruit bat
Fruit bats appear in the episode Apple Family Reunion and are mentioned in the episode Bats!. Unlike real-life fruit bats, these bats come in the colors of the rainbow and resemble fruit, the midsections of red fruit bats in particular resembling strawberries; they also appear to have leaves for ears. A colony of fruit bats inhabit the trees of one of Sweet Apple Acres' west orchards. A red fruit bat appears on cover A. In the chapter book Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell, Fluttershy has a new fruit bat called Toby.

Vampire fruit bat
Relatives of fruit bats called vampire fruit bats infest Sweet Apple Acres in the episode Bats!. Unlike their more colorful counterparts, vampire fruit bats come in dark colors such as black and brown, and have red eyes and long fangs. They are considered vermin by the Apple family for their tendency to suck apples of their juice during harvest season. However, their habit of spitting out the apples' seeds has the long-term benefit of growing healthier, more productive trees. Applejack ultimately agrees to build a sanctuary for the bats to live and feed without ruining her orchards.

Griffon
Griffons are creatures that have the body of a lion, and the front claws, head, and wings of an eagle. The first griffon featured in the show is Gilda, Rainbow Dash's former friend, who appears in Griffon the Brush Off. Like Pegasi, Gilda can fly and stand on clouds. A male chef griffon named Gustave le Grand appears on board the train in MMMystery on the Friendship Express. A pair of griffon statues appear outside the entrance to the Crystal Empire library in The Crystal Empire - Part 1 and in Games Ponies Play. The Daring Do book series includes a book titled Daring Do and the Griffon's Goblet; a griffon appears on the cover of a copy of this book in Read It and Weep and on another Daring Do book cover in A Friend in Deed. Another male griffon appears on a formerly available fan-designed WeLoveFine T-shirt depicting a host of non-Hasbro characters. The map of Equestria indicates that griffons are native to a land or cloud mass across the ocean east of its border. In Rainbow Falls, an all-griffon team qualifies for the aerial relay event in the Equestria Games.

In IDW comics', Pinkie Pie tells Twilight that Ponyacci got a standing ovation from the Griffon Kingdom. In, one of the judges of the pie contest is a female griffon.

The griffin is a mythical creature dating all the way back since ancient Persian and Greek folklore.

Hydra
A hydra residing in Froggy Bottom Bogg chases the main characters in Feeling Pinkie Keen. The hydra has four heads on snake-like necks and a large, orange, dragon-like body, with only two legs and no wings or arms. The ponies note a smelly gas that envelops it as it rises from the bog, and a tick-like insect can be seen on its neck during this scene. Before chasing the ponies, it roars and licks its lips. The heads sometimes display different expressions and even laugh at each other's misfortunes. One head is noticeably slower to react than the others.

The hydra also appears on the Comic Con 2011 promotional poster. In the Ruckus Reader interactive storybook Things That Go Bump in the Night, it appears in Rainbow Dash's imagination. In The Hub's 8 bit promo and 8-bit network ID, it appears in Level 3 of ''Adventure Ponies! The Video Game''.

In a flashback in, Princess Celestia suggests to Star Swirl the Bearded that he protect his magical secrets with a hydra. A skeleton of a hydra appears in present day in the same issue. In, the cover of Twilight's monster-pedia features a hydra design.

The hydra is a monster from Greek mythology, a giant multiheaded serpent which grew two heads whenever one of them was chopped off.

Jackalope
A jackalope appears in the episode Filli Vanilli during Music in the Treetops, and is fed by Fluttershy along with a rabbit in the same rabbit hole. As opposed to its vampiric counterparts, this kind is depicted as being passive.

The cream-colored jackalope cared for by Fluttershy lives alongside a normal-looking rabbit.

Vampiric jackalope
Vampiric jackalopes are hostile towards Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie in the IDW comic My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Issue #3. Unlike the regular jackalope, vampiric jackalopes have brighter colored coats such as pink, blue and yellow as well as sharper teeth, black antlers and eyes that turn red when aggressive. They are carnivorous and are the natural enemies of the Chupacabra.

Manticore
A manticore named Manny Roar poses an obstacle to the main characters in Friendship is Magic, part 2 after Nightmare Moon deliberately enrages it. Manny Roar has the body of a lion, a scorpion's tail, and a pair of dragon-like wings. Similar to Aesop's fable of The Lion and The Mouse, as well as the fable of Androcles and the Lion, the angry beast is calmed when Fluttershy shows it kindness and removes the painful thorn from its paw. During Magical Mystery Cure, Manny Roar's paw appears in one of Fluttershy's flashbacks.

A Manny Roar miniature collectible is included in the upcoming Elements of Harmony Friends character collection set with Fluttershy, Nightmare Moon, Rarity and Steven Magnet, displayed at the 2013 New York Toy Fair. His name comes from the packaging of the toy set. Manny Roar also appears on the Comic Con 2011 promotional poster.

In Persian mythology, the manticore is a creature with a red lion's body, a human-like face, a mouth with shark-like rows of sharp teeth, and a voice like a trumpet. Additional features such as a scorpion-like tail, bat-like wings, and the ability to launch poisonous spines at its enemies depend on the story. It is considered a man-eater, often leaving no remains, not even bones or clothing.

Minotaur
A minotaur called Iron Will appears in Putting Your Hoof Down. He is a muscular, bipedal, therianthropic ox-like character who claims that he teaches "assertiveness techniques" to "pushovers". He works as a self-help instructor for ponies who show low self-esteem, often offering them advice via catchy phrases.

In Greek mythology, the Minotaur was a therianthropic (humanoid) monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man that fed on human meat. It was imprisoned in the center of the Creten Labyrinth by King Minos, the son of Zeus. The creature was the offspring of Minos' wife, Pasiphae, and a bull given to them from Minos' uncle, Poseidon. The word Minotaur derives from the Greek words minos, meaning king, and tauros, meaning bull, giving it the literal translation as either "king bull" or the "kings' bull".

Just as with the appearance of the cockatrice, a Minotaur's appearance and conflict with a Pegasus pony spoofs, rather unintentionally, Greek mythology. Given that the Minotaur, a grandson of Poseidon, was killed by Theseus, son of Poseidon, and that Pegasus was also a son of the sea god, it can be assumed that Iron Will's initial conflict with Fluttershy, a Pegasus, is comically coincidental with Greek mythology.

Parasprite
Parasprites are small, round, flying creatures that quickly become problematic in Swarm of the Century. In the beginning of the episode, Fluttershy witnesses a parasprite devour an entire basket of apples in mere seconds. The main characters realize that parasprites are capable of multiplying very quickly, and soon they become a destructive infestation in Ponyville. Lauren Faust drew parallels between Swarm of the Century and the Star Trek episode The Trouble With Tribbles. Both parasprites and tribbles are initially regarded as cute pets, but their rapid multiplication and voracious appetites turn them into pests and menaces.

Phoenix
Phoenixes appear in A Bird in the Hoof and Dragon Quest. In A Bird in the Hoof, Princess Celestia's pet is revealed to be Philomena, a phoenix. Philomena appears to be very sick, losing her few remaining feathers, persistently coughing, and being unresponsive to Fluttershy's numerous treatments. After chasing an evasive Philomena through the streets of Ponyville, Fluttershy witnesses Philomena burst into flames, but Princess Celestia explains that phoenixes need to renew themselves by shedding all of their feathers and bursting into flames. The renewed Philomena is bright red with golden-lined wings, and complies with Rainbow Dash's whispered request to tickle the Royal guards. The two even "high-five" at the end. In Dragon Quest, two phoenix parents defend themselves and their hatchlings against a gang of teenage dragons. During this skirmish Spike is able to rescue one of the unhatched phoenix eggs from the teenage dragons, and briefly ends up caring for the newly hatched baby phoenix, naming him Peewee. A series of pictures panned over in Just for Sidekicks shows Spike returning the baby phoenix to the two adults.

The Phoenix is derived from Greek mythology, often associated with the sun. According to Greek lore phoenixes are aviary beings that have survived for prolonged life-spans, measuring up to thousands of years. They accomplish this feat by bursting into flame during old age and then arise from their ashes into an earlier, youthful, stage of their lives. Phoenix is also one of the 88 modern constellations, it is named and modeled after the same mythical bird. The mythical fire-bird appears frequently in popular media and has been referenced several times in pop culture.

There are also several other mythological birds from different cultures that share similar properties with the phoenix.

Quarray eel
Quarray eels, named and seen in May the Best Pet Win!, are large burgundy-colored eels that live in holes in the side of Ghastly Gorge. Their name is a play on "moray eels" and "quarry". When Rainbow Dash races through the gorge in this episode, she tells her prospective pets that the eels become agitated when anyone gets too close to their nests. The eels proceed to pop their heads out of their caves, trying to eat the contestants as they pass by.

After Rainbow Dash dodges all of the eels with relative ease, the other animals try to make it through: the bat is almost swallowed by one of the eels, but manages to escape out of the creature's nostril. The eagle almost has its head bitten off by another eel. The owl props open a third eel's jaws with its wings, and the falcon gets its tail feathers bitten by a fourth eel, but manages to escape the eel's grip.

In, Shining Armor mentions quarray eels in a flashback

Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl is referenced in the episode Daring Don't, which makes mention of a "Quetzalcoatl Empress" in the Daring Do books series' lore, part of which does not only take place in a fantasy world inside the universe of the My Little Pony Friendship is Magic franchise, but also in said franchise's universe, "a remote part of Equestria". In Aztec mythology, Quetzalcoatl is the name of a feathered serpent deity worshipped in many different Mesoamerican cultures.

Sea serpent
The sea serpent featured in Friendship is Magic, part 2 has a long serpentine body, reminiscent of an Asian dragon, with fish fins instead of ears, purple scales and orange hair, eyebrows, and mustache. His hair is arranged in a pompadour style. He was later named Steven Magnet in merchandise. He is one of the obstacles that the main six ponies face in their quest for the Elements of Harmony. Nightmare Moon cuts off half of his mustache, sending him into a tantrum that renders the river impassable. Rarity soothes his tantrum by sacrificing her tail to make up the rest of his cut mustache with her unicorn magic. In thanks, Steven Magnet offers his body as a bridge across the river. He is voiced by Lee Tockar in the episode.

Steven Magnet obtained his name via a caption error through YouTube; YouTube's video caption system isn't perfect and tends to pick up even ambient noises, thus, when the scene with the sea serpent appeared, the program brought up "Steven Magnet" as part of the captioning. A Steven Magnet miniature collectible is included in the upcoming Elements of Harmony Friends character collection set with Fluttershy, Nightmare Moon, Rarity, and Manny Roar, displayed at the 2013 New York Toy Fair. His name, which was given by fans, comes from the packaging of the toy set. Steven Magnet also appears on the Comic Con 2011 promotional poster, on another poster printed in the German magazine, and on the 2012 My Little Pony trading card #34 of 84, always with Rarity's tail as half of his mustache. The trading card, released prior to his name's official adoption by Hasbro, does not refer to him by name but describes him as having a "magnetic personality", which a consultant for the design of the trading cards says is meant to reference the name.

In early June 2012, writer M.A. Larson was asked "Best joke/line/visual that you didn't write in any of your episodes?" and answered "I absolutely LOVE the sea monster in the pilots. I always wanted to bring that guy back but tough to do organically." Later in the same month, Jayson Thiessen, Larson, and Meghan McCarthy were asked "What was the *sea serpent* doing in a river? There an ocean after Everfree?" and Larson answered "river serpent, obviously."

Sea serpents are a common type of monster that originates from several mythological sources, most notably from Greek and Scandinavian lore, as well as from the Bible. The moustache also makes the serpent seen in the pilot reminiscent of the East-Asian mythological river dragons.

Tatzlwurm
A Tatzlwurm appears in Three's A Crowd. It is a sub-terranian worm-like creature with a tri-mandibular jaw and a maw containing black tentacles that can reach out and grab its prey. It also has scales and a red mane-like structure behind its head. It appears to be vulnerable to offensive unicorn magic. The creature's sneeze transmits an unknown disease to others, such as Discord.

The Tatzlwurm is named after the Tatzelwurm of Alpine folklore, though this version of the creature more closely resembles a "Graboid" from the movie Tremors.

Timberwolf
Timberwolves appear in the episodes Family Appreciation Day and Spike at Your Service. Their name is a play on a real-life breed of wolf, the Gray wolf, which is also known as the Timber Wolf. Their bodies are comprised of twigs, logs, and leaves.

At the beginning of the episode Family Appreciation Day, Granny Smith hears the Timberwolves' howls and says that their howling is the first sign of the yearly zap apple harvest. Later in the episode, they appear during her story of when she was young: when she ventures into the Everfree Forest one night to collect food for her family, she comes across a zap apple tree and begins to pick its fruit, alerting a group of Timberwolves; they proceed to relentlessly chase her until she makes it back home and clangs pots and pans to scare them off.

In Spike at Your Service, Applejack saves Spike from being gobbled up by hungry Timberwolves. The Timberwolves break into pieces and dissolve into smoke when Applejack foists rocks at them or manages to make them slam into trees and branches. The smoke later turns back to timber which reassembles into a much larger Timberwolf. The characters in the episode repeatedly mention that Timberwolves have distinctly foul breath. The Timberwolves in Spike at Your Service are of a different design from their debut appearance, and are animated with 3D computer models instead of the prevalent Flash animation.

Ursa
Ursa minor and ursa major appear in Boast Busters as gigantic magical bears with fur that looks like the night sky, and are partially translucent. At the start of the episode, Trixie boasts that she defeated an ursa major that was attacking Hoofington. Snips and Snails go into the Everfree Forest, intending to find an ursa major and lead it back to Ponyville, hoping to see Trixie defeat it. They find one and get chased by it into Ponyville. Trixie is forced to admit she did not vanquish an ursa and cannot defeat this one. The ursa turns out to be an ursa minor. Twilight uses her magic to lull the bear with a lullaby and soothes it with a gigantic container of cow milk. The sleeping ursa minor is peacefully returned to its mother, an ursa major. The ursa minor is shown again in Magic Duel in a flashback to the events of Boast Busters. The Ursa major is the largest creature seen in My Little Pony Friendship is Magic.

The Boast Busters story gallery on Hasbro's website uses alternate depictions of the ursa minor as being bright green, and both ursas are completely opaque.

Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are constellations seen in the northern hemisphere; the ursas in the show have unusually long tails for bears, much like their constellation namesakes. Their mother-and-child relantionship mirrors the Greek origin myth of the Ursa constellations, where Zeus turned the nymph Callisto and her son into bears and placed them in the night sky.

Vampire
Vampire bats are South American blood-sucking bats. Vampires are also mythological anthropophagic blood-sucking immortal humans, such as Dracula and Count Orlok.
 * Vampire fruit bats, a type of Equestria's fruit bats, ruin Sweet Apple Acres' apples in the episode Bats! by sucking the juice out of them, leaving them rotten.
 * Fluttershy becomes a vampire fruit bat-pony hybrid in the episode Bats!, after Twilight Sparkle casts a spell on the bats while she uses her stare on them. She consequently takes on vampire fruit bat-like traits: fangs, ear and wing styles, paler color, red eyes, hunger for apple juice, animal unconsciousness, and aggressiveness. Moreover, her mane and tail become much more rugged and umkempt. She is eventually defeated and reverted to normal when the rest of the Mane 6 use her own stare against her.
 * Sweetie Belle dresses up as a vampire in the episode Luna Eclipsed.

Windigo
The windigos are explained to be "winter spirits that feed off fighting and hatred; the more hate the spirit feels, the colder things become", according to Clover the Clever, the historical character that Twilight plays in the Hearth's Warming Eve play. The three windigoes appear three times throughout the episode Hearth's Warming Eve: at the conclusion of the grand summit, after the pony leaders' snowball fight, and at the cave that the ponies took as shelter.

The windigos resemble ghostly and translucent horses. In their first appearance, the three windigoes only look down onto the grand summit from a passage in the clouds with glowing blue eyes, but in their second and third appearances they wail and fly in a circle of clouds. They are defeated by "the fire of friendship", a pink flame that takes the shape of a heart, which was created in the play when Clover the Clever, Smart Cookie, and Private Pansy become friends. After the play, the friends congregate in the dressing room and begin to bicker about an open window, like they did at the beginning of the episode. The friends are shocked to hear a howl similar to the windigo's howl outside. Rainbow Dash promptly agrees to close the window and the friends laugh; the camera then shows the same "fire of friendship" burning brightly over Canterlot.

In the mythology of the Algonquian people, the Wendigo, or Windigo, is a malevolent, anthropophagic supernatural spirit or deity being strongly associated with the winter, the North, coldness, as well as famine and starvation. It has been thought to be an ice-giant that eats people whole. The word windigo is also often used to describe or name people who have gone mad or are thought to be cannibals, such as in Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine.

Issue #2

 * A cave troll appears. When Twilight sees the troll, she says that he is much bigger than the Cave Dwellers' Reference Guide says.
 * This cave troll is also mentioned by Twilight Sparkle in.
 * Later in the same issue, the ponies are attacked by a giant tarantula and a group of spiders, which appear to have markings similar to cutie marks.
 * The giant spider is also mentioned in.

Issue #3

 * Queen Chrysalis and her changelings crash land (after the events of A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2) into a civilization of "very loving" small cat creatures. They continue loving the changelings even after they drain them to feed.
 * Carnivorous flowers (referred to as petunias, carnations, and pansies) attack Applejack and Rarity, after the latter attempts to pick them to accessorize. The ponies then use them as parachutes.
 * A chupacabra attacks Twilight and Fluttershy, mistaking them for goats; a group of vampiric jackalopes later attacks Rainbow and Pinkie. After the groups run into each other, the Chupacabra and Jackalopes attack each other, as Fluttershy explains that they are "natural enemies".

Issue #4

 * Princess Celestia mentions that due to the passing of the Secretariat comet, Manehattan was attacked by a "giant, magical marshmallow pony".

Issues #5-8

 * Princess Luna describes that the peaceful inhabitants of the moon have been trapped under the spell of the Nightmare Forces, turning them into shadowy creatures, such as "Shadowfright". At the end of Issue #8, the moon creatures return to normal, losing their shadowy appearance and taking on forms resembling normal animals.
 * In Issue #7 Spike founds a group of Moon Slugs who help him to enter to Nightmare Rarity's castle without being noticed and return in Issue #8 helping Spike escape taking his form making Shadowfright believe that he's using the silent treatment.

Issue #11

 * During Shining Armor and his friends' game, Poindexter plays an "elf-Pegasus" character.
 * The game these friends are playing is called "Oubliettes and Ogres".
 * The game is also played by the Cutie Mark Crusaders in and mentioned by Spike in.

Issue #15-16

 * A bookworm invades the Golden Oak Library with the intention of eating all the books. In the process, it traps Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity in a blank book void and brings literary characters to life via magical cocoons, but in Issue #16 he changes his ways and helps the main six.
 * In Issue #16, in Rainbow Dash's story, space fleas appear on an asteroid (actually the bookworm's cocoon).

Issue #2

 * Two Cloud Gremlins (one thin with goggles and a jacket and the other fat with a sweatshirt) put a spell on a cloud and feed off the sadness of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash eventually beats them with a Sonic Double Rainboom.

Issue #6

 * Sweet Apple Acres is terrorized by a Sass Squash, a squash-shaped creature that steals apples and replaces them with squashes. The Apple family capture him, but it's revealed to be Granny Smith in disguise. In the end, Applejack discovers that the Sass Squash is real when she sees of photo of him and a young Granny Smith in a photo album.

Issue #7

 * The Cutie Mark Crusaders encounter and befriend a greater Equestrian mimicker, naming her "Imp" (short for the mimicker's scientific name "Globulus improbulus"). In the end, the CMC return Imp to her cave where her mother hugs her. Like changelings, mimickers are shape-shifters, but while changelings can take on the form of other ponies, mimickers can turn into anything but ponies. According to a book Twilight reads from, "mimickers...are curious and playful creatures. They love to use their powers to play tricks and jokes. When they are young, mimickers try out many different forms. When they become adults, they settle on one form."

Issue #8

 * One of Celestia's flashbacks shows an unspecified time in which Canterlot was attacked by an army of shadowy creatures, appearing to resemble the Nightmare Forces.

Issue #9

 * Spike buys dehydrated sea beasts in the mail and helps them grow with growth potion, to the point at which Spike was no longer able to control them. He teaches them the ways of the world until they become smart enough to live on their own.

Issue #10

 * Luna mentions finding an owlbear while on patrol in the Everfree Forest.

Issue #3

 * Princess Celestia and Spike are attacked and taken captive by three large rock lobsters, but they free them after hearing from Spike that "dragons eat rocks". The blue rock lobster is named Iggy, the yellow one Metty, and the red one Seddy.

Issue #4

 * A crystal ghost haunts the Crystal Castle, scaring the staff and taking books from the library. The ghost Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor find is a bard and lover of books who was once captured by King Sombra. He is freed by the end of the story, becoming the new librarian of the Crystal Castle.
 * Also mentioned in the issue are wood sprites and night sprites.

Miscellaneous

 * Twilight mentions a book called Ghosts, Goblins and Ghoulish Figures in The Show Stoppers. In, Spike mentions tree goblins while reading a monster-pedia.
 * In Luna Eclipsed, Noi says that she wanted to dress like a zombie the next year. In Bridle Gossip, Spike questions Twilight of the possibility that zombies made Ponyville look deserted. In, zombie ponies appear in a fantasy book world created by Pinkie Pie.
 * The storybook Under the Sparkling Sea introduces seaponies, such as Coral and Arrow, and mermares, such as Electra. Sea critters such as a manta hawk, jellyflies, crabbits, water weasels, fox-fins and star mice are also presented. King Leo, whom the book's dust jacket refers to as a sea lion (while looking more like a merlion), is featured. Mermares and a manta hawk also appear in IDW Comics' . In the chapter book Rarity and the Curious Case of Charity, Twilight Sparkle mentions a fashion book about seaponies.
 * The chapter book Rainbow Dash and the Daring Do Double Dare introduces colossa-gators. They are similar to normal alligators but are characterized as having iridescent, scaly green skin and red eyes and being as large as ursa minors.
 * In Pinkie Apple Pie, when the Apple Family and Pinkie Pie pass through the "Scariest cave in Equestria", the loud roaring of an unidentified beast can be heard. A snapshot on Pinkie's photo album reveals some of the cave's inhabitants, including a horned, frog-like amphibian and a flying, fish-like creature.