Questions You Might Have If You are New to the My Little Pony Fandom

If you are a new viewer of My Little Pony (MLP for short), you might have some questions. I will answer them here.

What is a "Brony" or a "Pegasister"?
A brony is a male My Little Pony fan. The word comes from "bro" and "pony". A pegasister is a female fan, which comes from the words "Pegasus" and "sister".

Who are the "Mane Six"?
This is a punny name that fans use when referring collectively to the six main characters of the show. The ponies themselves are...
 * Twilight Sparkle, or Twilight for short. A lilac purple mare with a magenta star for a cutie mark, with several smaller white stars around it, dark purple eyes and a straight, dark purple mane and tail with a magenta streak down it. She used to be a unicorn, but ever since gaining the title of the Princess of Friendship, she's been an Alicorn. She is magically gifted, very organised, likes to read and is sort of the leader of the group. You may hear people describe her as snarky, however, this is only true if she's in a bad mood and she's mostly not.
 * Pinkie Pie, sometimes referred to as Pinkie for short. A pink Earth mare with a darker pink, curly mane and tail, blue eyes and a cutie mark of three balloons (two blue and one yellow). She works as a party planner and baker, which suits her as she really likes parties and eating. She also likes to have lots of fun and spread that fun to others and is very energetic, with a zany sense of humour.
 * Applejack, an orange Earth mare with green eyes, freckles, a blonde mane and tail that are tied up at the ends, a cowboy hat, and a cutie mark of three red apples. Apples are her favourite food as well. She works as a farmer, providing wool, milk, apples and apple-based products (such as jam, cider, pies etc). She can be stubborn, but makes up for it by being honest, friendly and loyal.
 * Fluttershy, a yellow Pegasus mare with light pink mane and tail, green eyes and a cutie mark of three pink butterflies. Like her name suggests, she is very shy. She also is very kind and polite and likes animals, owning a great many of them and possessing the ability to speak to them.
 * Rainbow Dash, a sky blue Pegasus mare with red eyes, a messy rainbow-coloured mane and tail and a cutie mark of a rainbow lightning bolt coming from a cloud. She is very athletic and can do a "sonic rainboom" (sonic boom with a rainbow blast). She is sort of the least polite of the Mane Six, but she's not outright mean. Her job is to control the weather, along with the other Pegasi. She used to idolise the Wonderbolts, a flying group that she's now part of.
 * Rarity, a white unicorn mare with blue eyes, blue eyeshadow, a cutie mark of three diamonds, and a wavy, dark purple mane and tail. She is a fashion designer and cares deeply about fashion. She is a bit of a drama queen and also dislikes anything dirty or impolite. While she may seem arrogant and petty, she is actually quite smart and generous. She also has the ability to find gems by magic.

Who are the "CMC"?
That stands for Cutie Mark Crusaders and is a club of three school-aged fillies who used to be trying to get their cutie marks, and when they did get them (their cutie marks consist of a magenta shield with a symbol in the middle, an apple for Apple Bloom, a musical note for Sweetie Belle and a wing with a lightning bolt for Scootaloo), they started helping other young ponies earn theirs. They consist of...
 * Apple Bloom, a yellow Earth filly, Applejack's younger sister, with orange eyes, a red mane and tail, and an enormous magenta bow on her head. She is a bit stubborn, but a good thinker.
 * Scootaloo, an orange Pegasus filly with purple eyes and a spiky purple mane and tail. She cannot fly, it is unknown if she ever will. She is very active and daring, riding around a blue scooter, and, like Rainbow Dash, she dislikes "sappy" stuff. She also idolises Rainbow Dash.
 * Sweetie Belle, a white unicorn filly and the younger sister of Rarity. She has green eyes and a lilac and pink mane and tail. She is also a bit of a daredevil, although she's the shyest of the CMC and arguably the most polite.
 * Babs Seed (Applejack's brown-furred, red-maned cousin, the same age as the CMC and a reformed bully) and Gabriella "Gabby" (an enthusiastic, talented young griffin who wishes she had a cutie mark so she got something else in lieu of one) are sort of honorary members of this club who are not full-fledged members of it.

Who are these background characters like Derpy Hooves and Lyra?
They are background characters.
 * Derpy Hooves, a grey Pegasus mare with blonde mane and tail, bubbles as a cutie mark, and yellow eyes that go in different directions. She is very clumsy. Some people say her name is a slur, but that's false. "Derp" actually is a word that means making mistakes, which suits her clumsiness. She is shown to like muffins, which some fans exaggerate. She is also shown to be a mailpony on some occasions.
 * Dinky Doo, a pink Unicorn filly who some people think is Derpy's sister or daughter.
 * Ditzy Doo, a pony who's mentioned to have flown north when they had to go south. Some people think that pony is the same pony as Derpy, others think that pony is related to Derpy.
 * The Flower Trio, three Earth mares named after flowers: Daisy, Roseluck and Lily Valley. They are often seen freaking out when something scary happens.
 * The Spa Ponies, Aloe and Lotus, who work in a spa.
 * Time Turner, a large brown Earth stallion in a green tie. Because his cutie mark is an hourglass and his job is said to be related to time, some fans theorise that he's a Time Lord and call him "Dr. Whooves". He is often 'shipped with Derpy, Minuette or Roseluck.
 * Minuette, a blue pony with a mane that's striped like toothpaste, earning her the fan nickname "Colgate".
 * Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie "Bon Bon" Drops, two best friend mares who are seen performing zany antics together. Lyra is an aqua unicorn with a lyre for a cutie mark and Bon Bon is a cream-coloured Earth pony with sweets as a cutie mark and a pink and navy blue mane and tail. Sweetie Drops, also known as Bon Bon, has lots of different voices, and because Lyra sometimes sits like a human, people joke that she is an anthropologist. That joke doesn't make sense anymore as other ponies have also sat like humans since, but the joke stuck.
 * Golden "Carrot Top" Harvest, a yellow Earth mare with carrots as a cutie mark and an orange mane and tail.
 * Octavia and Vinyl Scratch, the latter of which is also called DJ-Pon-3, two musicians, both Earth mares. Octavia is brown, with a fancy dark-brown mane and tail and a treble clef as a cutie mark. She plays a double bass. Vinyl Scratch is a white-furred, blue-maned DJ who wears sunglasses.
 * Soarin' and Spitfire, the only two named Wonderbolts. Soarin is a blue stallion and Spitfire is a yellow mare with orange mane and tail. Soarin' also likes pies.

What is a cutie mark?
A cutie mark is a symbol on a pony's outer back thigh. It represents a pony's special talent and arrives when they achieve said talent. A pony without a cutie mark is known as a "blank flank" (a flank is a pony's side and a cutie mark appears on the side of the thigh).

What is an Alicorn? And for the record, what is an Earth pony?
An Alicorn is a pony with both wings and a horn. There are only five known Alicorns and their magic is powerful. An Earth pony, on the other hand, is a pony with neither wings nor a horn.

I've heard that Pinkie Pie has an insane, murderous, straight-maned counterpart named Pinkamena. Is that true?
In short, no. In long, Pinkie Pie's hair does sometimes go straight, but she's lonely those times, not insane. She also never murdered anypony and "Pinkamena" is just her full name (Pinkamena Diane Pie). The idea that Pinkie Pie murdered somepony comes from a fanfic called "Cupcakes" that portrayed her as a murderer and a video called "Smile HD" that portrayed her killing her friends while singing the Smile Smile Smile song featured in "A Friend in Deed". Be assured, however, that Pinkie Pie is in fact not a psycho killer.

Who are the Princesses Celestia and Luna?
They are the rulers of Equestria, both lanky Alicorns with wavy manes and tails. They wear necklaces, crowns and shoes, Celestia's are gold with purple diamond emblems, Luna's are blue with moon emblems. Luna is dark blue and Celestia is white with a mane and tail that have pink, purple, green and blue stripes. You might hear about "Nightmare Moon". Nightmare Moon is Luna's evil alter ego who was banished to the moon a thousand years ago and defeated in the first episode. You might hear people call Celestia a "troll". Despite her occasional light pranks, however, she is not a troll.