We have a show. We have a barely-explored world. We have creative people who want to expand it. So how does it all work? I will try to explain how this should work as best I can.

We have a few settings already established in the show.

Towns and cities:

• Ponyville
• Canterlot
• Manehattan
• Cloudsdale
• Crystal Empire
• Las Pegasus
• Our Town
• And a few others mentioned in passing or that I'm too lazy to write.

All of these places have one thing in common: they have a very grounded atmosphere and feel to them. Ponyville is a little country town. Canterlot is a noble, posh place. Manehattan is a super-urban city. Etc.

Creating a setting is hard, but a simple list can help. We will take the fictional town of Viridian for example.

• Geographical position.

  • Is it located in a snowy location? A hot place? A desert? Near a forest? The geographical location is the easiest characteristic to decide and the one that will give the most solid feeling to a place. For this, I decided that Viridian will be a seaside village.

• What kind of activities happen in your setting?

  • Is it a fishing village? Do they have farms? Is it more of an urban area? Since Viridian is located on a shore, the most obvious activities would be fishing and agriculture/gardening since the citizens would have an easy access to the sea and water.

• What kind of population is in that setting?

  • Is it a small population? A big one? Earth Ponies, Pegasi, Unicorns? Since we have a seaside village, Earth Ponies and some Pegasi would fit well. Unicorns, maybe less so. Since we have a fishing village, the population should be kept on the smallish side. Let's say 100-200 inhabitants max.

  So now we have a solid basis for a ton of stories. From a fishing trip gone wrong to a debate at the local marketplace, Viridian is a town that offers more than it seems.

What makes a story are the characters. It's the reason why the Twilight series is awful and My Little Pony is such a beloved show. The Mane 6 are grounded, developed, and interesting characters through and through. You can easily describe them psychologically and physically, and you can pretty much instantly know if a story fits their character or if it doesn't. Most of all, their characters are what allows for such vivid fanfictions to exist. Think of how many fics deal with Twilight's stress and concerns, Fluttershy caring for others, Rainbow Dash having to defend her pride or prove herself, etc. They wouldn't be possible if their characters were vague or poorly developed.

Not as tedious as worldbuilding, character building makes up for it with sheer difficulty. We want sharp and vivid characters, but not so much that they become caricatures of themselves. So, again, here are some tips:

WARNING! Do not strictly adhere to these kinds of rules. There is a lot of wiggle room. This is only to give a base personality to the character and help in the creation process.

1. Define a couple of base characteristics.
   As dumb as it may sound, characters are mostly built-up characteristic. Let's take Twilight Sparkle for example. Her main characteristics would be: smart, sheltered, anxious, strict. These characteristics are what makes the base of several of her stories. In Season One, she was especially found of using magic (smart) to fix a situation. However, that magic would usually have side effects that would only hinder the Mane 6's efforts. (sheltered: read a lot of books, knows a lot of theory about magic, but isn't used to its concrete effects).

   For this example, we will have River Breeze. For a few of her characteristic, let's take: calm, content with a simple life, gentle, fascinated with the exotic. Not the deepest of characteristics, but these are only building blocks.

   You can add to your character's characteristics after the fact as long as they are organic with the rest of their story.

2. Imagine your character in their day-to-day life.

   Maybe they like to watch sport. Maybe they're constantly scheming new pranks to unleash on unwitting ponies. Maybe they spend their days trying to get their cutie mark. For the purpose of this example, River Breeze likes to tend to her garden. Since she is fascinated with the exotic she has a ton of different species of flowers that she resells at the local marketplace. We can decide that she is also savvy because she knows how to prepare her bouquets to enhance the local flowers with the exotic flora and thus drive up sales. Since she is calm we can easily imagine her sitting at home, sipping on a cup of tea, reading a book. That would also fit with her fascination for the exotic since books are a way to transport us to faraway lands and adventures.

3. Give them a cutie mark and a tribe

   I am personally not one to give much importance to a cutie mark, but in the show, they are most often than not very important. For this example, River Breeze's cutie mark will be a blooming orchid. They should represent some aspect of their personality and their talent. In her case, her talent is gardening. However, as Cheerilee so kindly demonstrated in Season One, any cutie mark can mean a ton of different things as long as you play on meanings.

   As for the tribe, it's a bit more important, but don't forget that the biggest differences are: Earth Ponies are stronger and better at working the ground, Pegasi can fly and interact with clouds, Unicorns can do simple spells. Ponies like Twilight Sparkle, Trixie, and Starlight Glimmer are, again, exceptions. Very few unicorns can cast spells like them, and most of them can only do simple telekinesis. Rainbow Dash is one of the only few ponies who can fly so fast as to create a sonic rainboom. Be careful not to make your characters like the Mane 6.

4. Invent a bit of history

   River Breeze was born to a small family of four. Her father was a fisherman. Her mother was a gardener and taught the basics of gardening to her daughter. Her older brother, however, had a knack for travelling, and often brought back souvenirs from the places he visited. She had a friend whom she considered a sister, and always shared secrets with and spent all her time with. However, her friend was a travel-hungry pegasus who left home as soon as she could to explore the world, leaving River Breeze to tend to her garden and live her mundane life.

   Nothing fancy, just something to make her more grounded. We can work on adding details later. After all, we want to create interesting characters, but we also want to start them with a good story or two, and not lock them with an overabundance of specificities. Just think back to the show. Even though the Mane 6 are very well defined, it doesn't stop the writers from varying some details of their personalities and stories (the most egregious examples being Rarity and Rainbow Dash, especially in seasons One and Two). As long as you don't stray too far, characters are malleable (ie: don't make a character who's usually a very gentle soul into an absolute bitch except if you have a very good reason to, but having her be cranky from time to time is reasonable).

   Now that we have an idea of what our character is like, let's put them in an interesting situation, why don't we?

I am not a great worldbuilder. However, I consider myself a decent writer. At least, I read enough to pick up on what makes stories interesting.

Conflict

Your character has characteristics. They have a personality. Now, let's put them in a situation that challenge this personality.

A few examples:

• Kaladin is fiercely loyal and protective of his fellow soldiers. One day, he is confronted with betrayal from his beloved commander shortly after indirectly causing the death of his comrades.
• Harry Potter is a mundane boy living a mundane, albeit less-than-perfect life. One day, he is summoned to a magical school where nothing is familiar.
• Twilight Sparkle is a scholar, and a generally asocial pony. One day, her mentor, Celestia, orders her to go to Ponyville to make some friends.

The best and most interesting character stories are caused by characters confronting something opposite to their personality, or what they're used to. Now, not every story needs to follow this formula, but it's an easy way to create great stories.

Remember River Breeze's friend (let's call her Sun Strider)? River Breeze doesn't like change (content with a simple life). By leaving her, Sun Strider has created conflict within River Breeze. Namely, would River Breeze, who is content with her mundane life put her easy, comfortable life aside to follow her friends on adventures? How would she react when her friend came back for a brief visit?

But let's be careful here, and let's not focus exclusively on River Breeze. Although this story is interesting in the context of a story, in the context of an extended mythos, it would set up an interesting character, but not the world. However, we have the possibility to do so with her friend!

Equestria is full of possibilities for an encounter between two characters. Travel is fairly easy, and there is a spirit of cooperation in most places.

Sun Strider likes to travel. After her story with River Breeze, why not see how her travels changed her and those around her?

For starters, let's say she visited a place named Deadthirst Canyon with a group of explorers. Then you could have a story in this setting to link the two stories together. Nothing fancy, even just acknowledging the place would be enough to establish an organic link between stories.

Let's say that the group of explorers has a particular pony in it named Bone Dry, an archaeologist who works mainly in Manehattan. In a later story set in Manehattan, the main characters could visit a museum where a discovery is attributed to this archaeologist, or even have him do a presentation on his research. He doesn't then need to play an important role in the story. Really, all he needs is to be shown as acknowledgment of another writer's work.