I'mma go out and do some advertising..

Good idea - background ponies need more love

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Maybe you can come up with a contest some time?

2486535 Just don't make a "Who's Best Background Pony" poll, cause we all know who will win.

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I'll be doing some promoting as well; I just want to finish the new banner first.

The one I've got includes Derpy, Daisy, Merry May, Apple Cobbler, Twinkleshine, Cherry Berry, and Flitter.
(When I mean background ponies, I really mean background ponies.)

This group is not dead, it just needs a little TLC. I would reach out to the Crack Shipping Inc. group. They often have contests that call for authors to ship background characters. It's a fun, light-hearted group full of good people.

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What defines a "Background Pony" as far as this group is concerned? Obviously not the Mane Six, Spike, Celestia, Luna, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. Probably not Big McIntosh, Granny Smith, Cheerilee, Shining Armor, Cadance, Discord, Spitfire, or Zecora either.

If a pony had a significant role in one episode like Fancy Pants, Prince Blueblood, Aunt Orange, or Photo Finish and then was relegated to the background in all future appearances, is he/she a background pony?

What if the character's few appearances in-show were significant, like Ms. Harshwhinney, Trixie, or Daring Do?

Is the purpose of this group to promote stories about ponies who don't get much written about them like Filthy Rich and Ms. Peachbottom? Because I could see the queue easily fill up with OctaScratch and LyraBon shipping stories, plus a plethora of Derpy, Trixie, and Dr. Whooves stories depending upon how strict the rules are defined and enforced.

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Honestly, there isn't a hard and fast rule when it comes to defining this, but let me try to build on an idea that I had in another group. Over in Everypony is the Best Pony, there was already a folder for Background Ponies, but nothing for Supporting Ponies. I suggested a new folder to the group founder, and since it was my idea (and I'm an admin over there as well, I was asked to promote it.

Here's part of what I said:

What makes a character a Supporting Pony? Since there isn't any specific standard that I'm aware of, I'm going to suggest that we use this definition: a pony who has dialogue in multiple episodes who isn't a member of the Mane Six, a Cutie Mark Crusader (including Babs Seed), or a princess. Some examples would be Cheerilee, Big Mac, and Spitfire.

Going off that gives us a better idea of who is a background pony, but a little thought shows us that we can't use it as an ironclad rule. For instance, Bon Bon is a background pony, no question about it -- but she's had dialogue in more than one episode. Fancy Pants, as you pointed out, really only spoke in one episode, but was of such significance in that episode that I wouldn't call him a background pony.

Maybe we can use both ideas as general guidelines. Daring Do spoke in two episodes and was significant in one of them, definitely not a background pony. Derpy has only spoken in one episode and is only significant in terms of fandom drama related to her; she's a background pony. Photo Finish, Blueblood, Ms. Harshwhinny? Not background ponies. Cherry Berry and Flitter? Two of my favorite background ponies. Trixie? She would be appalled if you called her a background pony!

TL;DR: For the most part, you can use your own judgment, but be sure to factor in things like how many speaking appearances they have, and how important they've been to any storylines.

Of course, we could just set up a thread discussing who is and who isn't...

I've got a fanfic coming up!

I can't seem to post my story... Can someone help? Please?