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.

Ahuizotl
Ahuizotl is as a fictional character in the book Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone in the episode Read It and Weep. He is Daring Do's primary antogonist in her quest to retrieve the sapphire stone. 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. He has a dog-like head, except for his eyes, which are positioned over his nose at the end of his snout. He is voiced by Brian Drummond in the episode. His overall appearance and name mirror the mythical creature Ahuizotl from Aztec culture.

Cerberus
Cerberus is a giant three-headed dog that appears in the episode It's About Time, interrupting Twilight Sparkle'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 Sparkle, 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 their leader 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 Sparkle and her friends. They have sheer insect-like wings, fangs, horns, and holes in their legs. They are able to use magic from their horns, allowing them to imitate both Pegasus and Unicorn ponies. Like Chrysalis, they were designed by Rebecca Dart. Before the design was finalized, the script described their Queen as "a GANGLY BLACK PEGACORN with a gnarled black horn." Changeling grunts, laughs, and other sounds were provided by veteran voice actor, Frank Welker.

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. They act in a similar fashion in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2: Queen Chrysalis explains her desire to take over Equestria, saying, "Equestria has more love than any place I've ever encountered. My fellow changelings will be able to devour so much of it that we will gain more power than we have ever dreamed of!" The changelings break the magical protective sphere around Canterlot, and terrorize the city. When Princess Celestia orders the six main ponies to recover the Elements of Harmony from a nearby tower, the changelings take the form of the main six ponies and fight them, preventing them from reaching the Elements. The changelings and their queen are defeated when Shining Armor and Princess Cadance's combined magic throw them out of Canterlot at the end of the episode.

Changelings appear in the comic book series, which takes place after the second season of the show. They appear in pages that were displayed at the New York My Little Pony Project 2012, including the first issue's third page. Queen Chrysalis is the main antagonist through the first four-issue story arc, returning in the first issue. They make their return by invading Ponyville and assimilating into the populace. Twilight's research notes detail changeling infection. The term for the green pods that they use to incapacitate others is a chrysalis (which happens to be the name of their queen).

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 forest, Fluttershy finds Twilight Sparkle 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, in issue 4 of the comic series a horde of giant cockatrice 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. It is rather ironic that a cockatrice attempted to transform a Pegasus pony, namely Fluttershy, to stone and failed at it considering the fact that this creature possesses the same stone curse as another mythological monster, Medusa, who was in fact the mother of Pegasus.

Diamond Dog
Diamond Dogs are dog-like creatures who appear in the episode A Dog and Pony Show, where they kidnap Rarity and force her to find gems for them in their underground mine.

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."

Dragon
Dragons, as they have appeared so far during the show, are a species of giant fire-breathing reptilian monsters, based off of 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
Flocks of fruit bats, bats in the colors of the rainbow, appear in the episode Apple Family Reunion, The fruit bats inhabit the trees of one of Sweet Apple Acres' west orchards. Fruit bats appear to have leaves for ears, and the midsections of red fruit bats in particular resemble strawberries. In the chapter book Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell, Fluttershy has a new fruit bat called Toby.

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. Another male griffon appears on a formerly available fan-designed WeLoveFine T-shirt depicting a host of non-Hasbro characters. The official map of Equestria indicates that griffons are native to a land or cloud mass across the ocean east of its border.

Griffins feature extensively in classical Greek mythology and European middle-ages lore, and there are representations of griffins in ancient Egyptian and ancient Persian art. One of the oldest representations of griffins can be found on the frescos of Minoan palaces. Philostratus said of griffins that they are the guardians of vast treasures and kings.

Hydra
A hydra residing in Froggy Bottom Bog 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 others' misfortunes.

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 classical Greek mythology, the Hydra, meaning "water serpent", was a giant snake that lived in a swamp near Lake Lerna of the east coast of the Peloponneuse peninsula. Its parents were the dragons/giants Echidna and Typhoon, known as the mother and father of all monsters. The Hydra was defeated by Heracles (Hercules) as a part of his second labor among the other twelve. It was said to be so poisonous that even its breath and tracks were deadly, and if someone was lucky enough to cut off a head, it grew two more in its place. Hydra is also the name of a genus of simple freshwater organisms that can regenerate lost limbs, as well as the name of one out of five satellites of Pluto and the name of one of the 88 modern constellations.

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 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 the episode 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 a baby phoenix to 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 the episode 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 major and ursa minor 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 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 in the Northern Hemisphere. The ursas in the show have unusually long tails for bears, much like their constellation namesakes. The two constellations originate from Greek Mythology. The king of the gods, Zeus, chased after a nymph by the name of Callisto until she was transformed into a bear by Zeus' jealous wife, Hera. The nymph's son, the hunter Arcas, killed the bear by accident, not knowing who she was. But Zeus took pity on both of them, transforming Arcas into a bear and then placed him, along with his deceased mother, upon the night sky.

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 Sparkle 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.

Miscellaneous

 * Twilight Sparkle mentions a book called Ghosts, Goblins and Ghoulish Figures in the episode The Show Stoppers.
 * In Luna Eclipsed, Noi says that she wanted to dress like a zombie the next year. In Bridle Gossip, Spike questions Twilight Sparkle of the possibility that Zombies made Ponyville look deserted. Twilight Sparkle does not go on to say whether or not Zombies actually exist.
 * The Cave Troll is an enormous creature that appears in one of the official My Little Pony comics, The Return of Queen Chrysalis. When Twilight Sparkle sees the troll, she says that he is much bigger than the Cave Dwellers' Reference Guide says.
 * A Chupacabra appears in issue 3 of the comic series, mistaking Twilight and Fluttershy for goats. After a chase, it attacks a group of Vampiric Jackalope, as Fluttershy explains that the two are natural enemies.
 * A group of Vampiric Jackalope appear in issue 3, attacking Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. After a chase, they fight a Chupacabra, as Fluttershy explains that the two are natural enemies.
 * Three Pony Eating Petunias appear in issue 3, attacking Rarity and Applejack; after a chase, the two ponies use the flowers as parachutes.
 * A giant marshmellow pony is mention by Princess Celestia that was trying to attack Manehattan.
 * In issue 2 of the micro-series two cloud gremlins (one thin with googles and a jacket and the other fat with a sweatshirt) put a spell on a cloud and feed of the sadness of Ponyville after Rainbow Dash beat them with a Sonic Double Rainboom.