My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Characters/Animal Companions

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


My Little Pony toys traditionally come with pets, so it's no wonder why each of the Mane Six, Spike, and Princess Celestia have their own iconic pets, who really are characters unto themselves.

Return to the character index here.

Angel Bunny

Debut: "The Ticket Master"

A cute little White Bunny, Angel Bunny is Fluttershy's main animal companion. Not only does Angel help Fluttershy with tasks but he also makes attempts to bring the Pegasus out of her shell. Although adorable, Angel can be quite direct when interacting with others and if he doesn't like you, he will let you know as Spike soon discovers when given the task of looking after him.


Winona

Debut: "Applebuck Season"

Applejack's dog. She's extremely useful with her herding skills.


Opalescence

Debut: "Suited For Success"

Rarity's fluffy Persian cat; often referred to as "Opal" for short. Although Rarity adores her, the feeling doesn't seem to be entirely mutual.

  • Acrofatic: Though she's not actually fat; just a fluffy, long-haired cat. When Rarity dunks her in water in "Sweet and Elite" it shows she's actually quite skinny.
  • Butt Monkey: If Opal is on screen, you can expect something bad or at least annoying is going to happen to her.
  • Cats Are Mean: Played with. She is playful and affectionate towards other ponies (particularly Fluttershy), can hang around other pets without much trouble and is very appreciative of Rarity's dressmaking talents. However, she's not very kind to Rarity or Sweetie Belle, latching onto the former's flank with her claws and slashing off a hank of the latter's mane. Opalescence's finicky behavior could be explained as annoyance at the rough treatment Rarity doles out to her absentmindedly when "in the zone".
    • In general, the series has been giving Opal plenty of reasons to be angry and aggressive every time she appears on screen.
  • Cats Are Snarkers: Although Opal doesn't talk, her meows and facial expressions combined give off this trope's feel.
  • Cats Hate Water: She's peeved when Rarity soaks her to make her look ill in "Sweet and Élite".
  • Cat Stereotype: Her coat is white, so she's female. She's a Persian cat, so she's a snob.
  • Cat Up a Tree: Rainbow Dash leaves her stuck in a tree in an attempt to force Rarity to come outside and see the surprise her friends have prepared for her. Opal may or may not have been in on the plan.
    • Again at the start of "May The Best Pet Win!", although this is more disdain for the company of the other pets than anything else.
  • The Chew Toy: The series loves abusing her. Mostly at the hooves of her kind-hearted but sometimes absent-minded owner.
  • Empathy Pet: At least in "Suited for Success" where she mirrors Rarity's feelings at some points. Examples include purring happily at the first batch of dresses, hissing at the second batch and showing embarrassment at the fashion show. She also showed some affection towards Hoity Toity at the second fashion show.
    • In "Sweet and Elite", Opal acts to a degree as Rarity's conscience, trying to remind her of her commitment to the dress for Twilight she was supposed to be making when instead Rarity opts for the fancy engagements with Canterlot's elites.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: To Rarity. She often attacks the designer, but also tries to get her to do the right thing
  • Killer Rabbit: Opal seems to be shaping out like this. If anything, the episode "May The Best Pet Win!" showed that even birds of prey are afraid of going against her.
  • Meaningful Name: Her collar is decorated with an opal.
  • Morality Pet: A literal case during "Sweet and Elite" as Opal kept reminding Rarity to stop fooling around and finish Twilight's dress for once and all.
  • Silent Snarker: Big-time...especially in "Sweet And Elite".
  • Snarky Non-Pony Sidekick


Gummy

Debut: "Feeling Pinkie Keen"

A tiny toothless baby alligator who belongs to Pinkie Pie. He tends to bite or snap at anyone or anything near him but never actually does any damage. The alligator usually spends his time staring into space and doing nothing except when he's blinking, swimming around in the bathtub or playing with a balloon.

  • The Comically Serious: Alligator flavor.
    • Also for some reason, he can baa like a sheep.
  • Cool Pet: While he does less than most of the other ponies' pets, he's an alligator which is exotic enough to be cool. His entertainment value doesn't hurt his coolness factor either.
  • Loyal Animal Companion: To the point that he seems to possess the same Reality Warper abilities as Pinkie Pie.
  • Meaningful Name: He has no teeth as pointed out in his introduction.
  • Never Smile At a Crocodile: Subverted; he's harmless.
  • Opposites Attract: Gummy has an almost zen-like calmness about him even while biting in rapid-fire succession while Pinkie Pie is often literally bouncing with joy and excitement. This trope seems to be a trend among the animal companions of the Mane Cast.
  • Purple Eyes
  • Ridiculously Cute Critter: Who would have thought an alligator could be so cute?
  • Theme Naming: In addition to his Meaningful Name, he also matches his owner in sharing the name of a type of sweet treat: Pinkie Pie and Gummy candy.
  • Typical Cartoon Animal Colors: Real alligators are not that bright of a green.


Philomeena

Philomeena's physical appearance throughout most of her episode until her eventual rebirth.

Debut: "A Bird in the Hoof"

Princess Celestia's pet phoenix. She initially appeared unwell, so Fluttershy birdnapped her so she could try to make her feel better. Of course, she never actually needed the medical attention on the basis of being a phoenix-so she proceeded to make herself the most uncooperative patient ever for the hell of it.

  • Back from the Dead: Like all depictions of phoenixes, she burns herself when she dies and rises from the ashes.
  • Cool Pet: Don't let the picture fool you, She's actually a phoenix.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: She may seem simple-minded but she's clever enough to trick Twilight and Fluttershy into thinking she's a sick and weak bird...mostly because she thinks it's funny.
    • While we haven't seen her do it, all the other Phoenixes we've seen are extremely powerful, capable of scorching dragons with their flames (who, by the way, use lava pools as hot tubs). So yeah, definitely this trope.
  • The Dog Is an Alien: She's a prankster and pretends to be a rather sickly parrot much to Fluttershy's consternation.
  • Empathy Pet: Shares Celestia's love of practical jokes.
  • Fan Nickname: "Trollomena" for her prankster streak that seems to exceed even Celestia's.
  • Feather Fingers: Until those feathers drop off as well, leaving what looks like actual fingers...
  • Fiery Redhead: Literally, when she's reborn.
  • Incurable Cough of Death: Not that it matters...
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: After she's reborn, she gives Fluttershy one of her feathers as a thank-you gift.
  • Never Say "Die": According to Celestia, Philomeena "must renew herself".
    • When she burns up in front of the Mane Six, Twilight explains to Celestia that "there's been a terrible accident".
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Her extremely dumb and erratic behavior were fake; she was just having fun at Fluttershy and Twilight's expense.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: She temporarily wears a mustache to evade Twilight and Fluttershy when they are chasing her.
  • The Phoenix
  • Picky Eater: Fluttershy learns this the hard way.
    • Shown Their Work: When she's revived as a healthy phoenix, take a look at her beak. If you know anything about birds, it suddenly makes perfect sense that she'd hork up the seed she was given; that's pretty obviously a raptor's beak. To put it another way, Philomeena's a carnivore.
  • The Prankster
  • Shout-Out: Fluttershy meets Philomeena when she's at Death's door; Philomeena bursts into flame and dies when her owner isn't there and Fluttershy feels incredibly guilty until Celestia explains the nature of a phoenix.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": "Philomeena" has been used by Hasbro here, here, and here, while "Philemena" has been used in a storyboard for "A Bird in the Hoof". "Philomena" may or may not have been used by Lauren Faust.
  • Toothy Bird
  • Troll: She pretends to be a very dumb and stubborn bird, spending most of her screen time undermining Fluttershy's attempts to help her or getting herself in dangerous situations despite her health getting worse and worse between scenes. Eventually Fluttershy and Twilight chase her through town as Philomena is literally dying on them but still refuses to get help...until the bird stages a spectacular death scene, with her remains falling on Fluttershy's hooves, much to her horror and sorrow. Only after everything is said and done does Celestia get her to stop fooling around and come back to life, revealing that Philomena has been screwing with them the entire time. After she's reborn from her ashes, Celestia makes her apologize.


Owloysius

Debut: "Owl's Well That Ends Well"

A brown owl who befriends Twilight Sparkle and becomes her No. 2 Assistant. He keeps Twilight company when she has to stay up past Spike's bedtime.


Tank

Debut: "May The Best Pet Win!"

In "May The Best Pet Win!", Rainbow Dash seeks out a pet to have for her own by holding a contest. While initially unimpressed by a hapless tortoise that Fluttershy insists Rainbow admit as a contestant, Rainbow Dash is won over when he's the only one to stop and help her during the final contest after her wing gets pinned under a huge boulder. As a result, she's inspired to declare the tortoise whom she names "Tank" as the winner and her new pet.

  • Action Pet: Doesn't seem like it, but when Rainbow was in danger, he lifts a boulder with his freakin' head.
  • Cool Shades: Gets a pair of them out of his shell in response to Rainbow Dash saying she wants a cool pet.
  • Determinator: Rainbow Dash is partly impressed by his never-give-up can-do attitude.
  • Empathy Pet: Tank's loyalty is the other part of what impresses Rainbow Dash (the Element of Loyalty).
  • Last Place Is For Winners: He may be the slowest in every competition but he is the most loyal to Rainbow Dash.
  • Magitek: His helicopter device gets its power from the glowing trinket between the propeller and the base.
  • Meaningful Name

Rainbow Dash: You just can't stop that little guy. He's like a...like a...Tank!


Peewee

Debut: "Dragon Quest"

A tiny phoenix chick that hatched at the end of the episode, well after its parents and siblings were driven away from their nest. Spike found it and almost smashed it on orders from the leader of a dragon gang, but decided to take it home with him and raise it.


Others

  1. ↑ which Fluttershy immediately corrects
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