Lyra Heartstrings
Kind	Unicorn
Sex	Female

More info
Eyes	Moderate tangelo
Mane	Pale, light grayish cyan with white highlights
Coat	Very light aquamarine
Magic aura	Brilliant amber
Cutie mark

Lyra Heartstrings is a unicorn pony who frequently appears in the background and occasionally in more prominent roles. She has a magic mint coat, brilliant cyan mane and tail with a white streak, sunglow eyes, and a cutie mark of a lyre. Part of her name, Lyra, was given by fans before it was adopted officially by Hasbro. She shares her design with Amethyst Star and "Diamond Mint", shares her mane style with Rose and Silverspeed, and shares her tail style with "Royal Ribbon". Her name is not mentioned on the show, but it first appeared in merchandising as Heartstrings in the accompanying pamphlet of a mystery pack toy released in Europe in January 2012, and was later expanded to Lyra Heartstrings in a Playful Ponies toy, a trading card, the mystery pack toy's U.S. release, another mystery pack toy, a mobile game, and a board game. The term "heartstrings" refers to deep feelings of love or compassion, commonly used in the phrase "tug at the heartstrings".

Contents 1 Development and production 2 Depiction in the series 2.1 Variants 3 Other depictions 3.1 My Little Pony mobile game description 4 Appearances 5 Merchandise 6 Quotes 7 Gallery 8 See also 9 References 10 Comments

Development and productionEdit

According to a layout artist on the show, background ponies are nameless, but Lyra Heartstrings was labeled "Incidental Unicorn #2" at the studio prior to the toy releases.^[1] The same layout artist commonly used Lyra for background gags,^[2] such as jumping around excitedly, drinking from a cup, or slouching like a person on a park bench. Sweetie Drops appears with her frequently in the show, a pairing explained by the artist to be mostly coincidental and based on aesthetic considerations, as far as season one is concerned.^[2] The artist has referred to Lyra and the Earth pony variant of Lyra with moderate cerise eyes as the same pony.^[3][4]

The lyre is a common cutie mark in the series, but it also appeared in previous My Little Pony generations, for example on the G3 Earth pony Bee Bop.

Depiction in the seriesEdit

Lyra Heartstrings is a recurring background character in the series. Her first appearance is in Friendship is Magic, part 1 in Canterlot, where she walks beside Amethyst Star and waves a greeting to Twilight Sparkle, who doesn't notice and runs straight past her. She later appears at the party that Pinkie Pie throws for Twilight in Ponyville and visibly shouts "Surprise!" to her.

Lyra Heartstrings frequently appears alongside Sweetie Drops. The two are depicted talking in crowd scenes, enjoying a snack, and even fighting each other: they watch Applejack and Rainbow Dash during the Iron Pony Competition, they have a tussle with each other in the background of one scene of Lesson Zero for the possession of Smarty Pants, and they stand next to a well in Secret of My Excess and get surprised by Derpy when she pops out of the well. In Swarm of the Century, the two stand at a table and marvel at a parasprite that drifts before them and proceeds to gobble up their food, causing Lyra to break into tears. Lyra Heartstrings stands next to Sweetie Drops in Hearts and Hooves Day in the village shot, and appears shortly in Apple Bloom's fantasy scene. She appears in multiple shots of the Smile Song, in of which she bounces off a roof with Sweetie Drops. She appears in the background throughout the market scene in Putting Your Hoof Down, at first slumped on a table, then later sitting up, holding a drink and talking to Sweetie Drops.

She reappears with Sweetie Drops and another drinks cup in Magic Duel, and both dive for cover when Twilight Sparkle zaps Pinkie Pie.

She appears in Magical Mystery Cure during Twilight's coronation as a princess. During the last song of the episode she is seen in the crowd jumping excitedly as Twilight and her friends pass by.

Lyra Heartstrings also appears solo on occasion: A unicorn with her coat and eye color is disguised as a mummy in Luna Eclipsed. She is one of Queen Chrysalis's first bridesmaids in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1 and A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2, along with Minuette and Twinkleshine. In Part 1, she comments on the bridesmaids' dresses, saying that she loves them. In Part 2, she speaks in unison with the other two brainwashed bridesmaids who are blocking Twilight Sparkle and Princess Cadance's path. These two episodes were her only speaking roles thus far in the English dub. The Italian version of Friendship is Magic, part 1 and the Polish version of Call of the Cutie also give her clearly spoken lines.

VariantsEdit

There are a number of background ponies using Lyra Heartstrings's design with variations on her color scheme. They are included in the appearances table below. The most common of these is an Earth pony that matches Lyra Heartstrings exactly, save for the absence of a horn; this design is primarily used in crowd shots. A unicorn variety with moderate cerise eyes appears occasionally in scenes where Lyra Heartstrings runs around town, either on her own - as in Applebuck Season - or as part of a throng of other ponies, as in Boast Busters and The Ticket Master. Not every "running Lyra" has cerise eyes, however; she does not in Hearts and Hooves Day, and while she has cerise eyes for most of the race in Fall Weather Friends, they are yellow at the beginning of the race in that episode. An Earth pony variety with moderate cerise eyes appears in Over a Barrel and Luna Eclipsed, in both cases wearing a bonnet.

A Pegasus variant with Lyra Heartstrings's color scheme but with wings and a different mane style appears briefly in the episode Sonic Rainboom.

Other depictionsEdit

My Little Pony mobile game descriptionEdit

This loving and compassionate unicorn has a lyre for a cutie mark and will certainly tug at anypony's heartstrings!

AppearancesEdit

Times stated below are approximate and taken from various videos.

Season one
1	2:43 – waving to Twilight Sparkle as she runs past, 16:34 – yelling "Surprise!" at the party, 16:41 ~ 17:42 – mingling at the party, 18:48 – in the town hall next to Sweetie Drops, 19:28, 19:35 – hopping up and down excitedly in anticipation of Princess Celestia’s appearance, 19:46 – behind Pinkie Pie, 19:53 – talks to Sweetie Drops in confusion, 20:02, 20:08, 20:53 – lower body only, 21:06 – looking at Twilight, 21:23 – looking fearfully at Nightmare Moon. Duplicates: 16:36 – behind Twinkleshine at the party, 17:00 – behind Minuette, 17:08 – duplicates behind Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts, 17:17 – in the foreground, 18:46 – earth pony duplicate on the right balcony, seen again at 19:11, 20:15 – numerous earth pony duplicates in the crowd surveyed by Nightmare Moon.
2	20:15 – happily running towards Pinkie's party, 20:19 ~ 21:21 – in the foreground, 20:50 – standing in the crowd.
3	3:34 ~ 4:10 – in the stands in Rainbow Dash's fantasy, 8:01 – watching Rarity dance in her fantasy, 17:11 – hears “Twilight has an extra ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala”, 17:25 ~ 18:01 – part of the mob crowding around and chasing Twilight. Duplicates: 3:34 – one duplicate in the audience, 3:38 – another duplicate appears, 17:45 ~ 18:01 – entire pony posse intermittently duplicated for effect.
4	2:13 – running from the cow stampede in panic (eyes are maroon), 2:25, 4:44 ~ 7:41 – in the audience at the party for Applejack, 14:49 ~ 14:57 – getting free muffin samples, 18:14 ~ 18:23 – running about during the bunny stampede (eyes are maroon again). Duplicates: 4:44 – several duplicates in the audience.
5	12:20 – talking to Golden Harvest and Rainbowshine, 13:41 – staring at Fluttershy (visible only very briefly), 19:19 – at Gilda’s party, 19:44, 20:37 – laughing at the mutual zapping.
6	1:27 – walking around with an earnest expression, 2:18 ~ 10:01 – earth pony version standing in the crowd for Trixie’s show, 4:50 – with her horn back, 9:12 – watching Rarity run away, 9:24 ~ 9:50 – near Twilight Sparkle, 15:46 – part of the panic-stricken pony mob, 17:42 – watching the Ursa, 17:44 – emerging from the opposite side of the street, 18:04 – in the crowd congratulating Twilight, 18:35 ~ 20:30 – earth pony version in the crowd, 20:28 – (with her horn). Duplicates: 2:21 – one earth pony duplicate in the crowd, 2:32, 3:27, 6:13, 6:38, 7:19, 9:12 – two earth pony duplicates in the crowd, 9:24 – one earth pony duplicate, 9:26, 9:35, 9:42, 20:28.
7	1:46 – appears to be stretching in the park, 2:19 – sitting like a human on a park bench, 2:35 – talking to Sweetie Drops, 2:46 – in the crowd listening to Twilight.
8	None.
9	None.
10	2:38 – stretching for a bunch of flowers on the ground in the park, 14:01 – with Sweetie Drops outside Sugarcube Corner and marveling at a parasprite, 14:08 – watching the parasprite eat their food and going teary-eyed afterward.
11	2:30 – jumping up and down excitedly in the crowd (without a vest), 4:08 – singing while attached to a cart of supplies (with an animal team vest), 4:34 – singing with a hedgehog on her back, 17:18 – arguing over the disorder of the wrap-up, 17:20, 18:06 – standing as other ponies walk off, 18:14 – standing on a stool with a nest in her mouth, 20:25 – in the crowd looking at the mayor and Twilight.
12	4:54 – talking to “Tornado Bolt”, 15:32 ~ 21:19 – at Diamond Tiara’s cute-ceañera, 21:16 – dancing.
13	4:21 – cheering for Applejack’s bell-ringer, 6:25 – drinking from a cup while watching Applejack leap, 6:31 – same thing but with Rainbow Dash, 6:40 ~ 7:25 – in the audience, 9:11 ~ 11:19 – watching the racers line up, 11:27 – at the starting line, 11:36 – starts running (contestant #18), 11:40 ~ 18:22 – running in the Running of the Leaves, 13:20 – passing Applejack, 14:31 – passing Rainbow Dash (contestant #81), 16:41 – (contestant #18), 17:15, 17:42, 18:20 – (contestant #81), 18:51 – bouncing happily near the finish line (tags are gone), 19:23 ~ 19:33 – in the crowd watching Applejack and Rainbow tussle (hornless), 19:29 – with her horn back, 19:57 – without her horn. Duplicates: 6:59 – one earth pony duplicate in the background, 7:11, 7:24, 9:11 – one unicorn duplicate in the audience, 11:37 – entire pony posse intermittently duplicated for effect, 13:45 – three Lyra Heartstrings running, 16:41 – two Lyra Heartstrings, 18:51 – an earth pony duplicate in the crowd, 19:23 – many earth pony duplicates scroll by.
14	13:06 – at Rarity’s fashion show, 13:12 ~ 13:21 – looking at Hoity Toity as he walks up, 14:07 ~ – viewing the stage, 14:27 – grimacing at the dresses, 14:50 – listening to Hoity Toity (without her horn), 14:59, 15:18 – looking at Rarity. Duplicates: 13:13 – at least four duplicates in the audience, 13:16 – two duplicates, 13:53 – six earth pony duplicates, 14:27 – two duplicates, 15:05 – one earth pony duplicate.
15	None.
16	13:08 ~ 13:31 – bouncing on a cloud in the audience for the Best Young Flyer competition, 16:05, 19:07, 20:04 – not bouncing, 20:35 – chilling out behind Princess Celestia, 20:56, 21:21. Duplicates: 13:08 – one duplicate in the audience who’s not bouncing, 16:06 – another hopping Lyra Heartstrings, 19:07 – two hopping duplicates.
17	None.
18	14:43 ~ 20:03 – standing in the crowd for the talent show, 16:36 – staring at the Cutie Mark Crusaders (without a horn), 18:40 – starts laughing, 18:46, 20:02 – applauding. Duplicates: 14:44 – three duplicates in the crowd, 15:05, 16:38 – four earth pony duplicates, 18:40 – two earth pony duplicates, 20:02 – five duplicates.
19	None.
20	10:01 – barely visible in the crowd at Fluttershy’s first fashion show, 10:09 – smiling at Fluttershy’s performance, 10:30 – in the sidelines of Fluttershy’s red carpet, 16:43 – standing near the exit in the audience at Fluttershy’s latest fashion show, 16:47 – behind Photo Finish, 17:04 – near the exit again, 17:19 – sees Fluttershy trip (hornless), 17:20 – gasps in horror behind Photo Finish (with her horn), 17:22 – near the stage watching Fluttershy act weird (hornless again), 17:29 – behind Photo Finish again (with her horn again), 17:30 – watching Fluttershy skid across the stage (without her horn), 17:33 – and float upside down, 17:41 – and act like a dog, 17:56 – looking displeased behind Photo Finish (with her horn back), 18:10 – looking to the source of the word “Bravo!”, 18:13, 18:18, 18:30 – listening to and agreeing with Lyrica Lilac, 18:37 – back near the exit in the audience as she cheers for Fluttershy. Duplicates: 10:30 – one duplicate in the crowd, 17:05, 17:19 – one earth pony duplicate in the crowd, 17:22, 17:30 – two earth pony duplicates, 17:33 – one earth pony duplicate, 17:41 – two earth pony duplicates.
21	7:04 – in Appleloosa with a light blue headdress (hornless), 12:15 – walking in front of a house, 15:46 – running away from the stage with the Appleloosans, 15:56 – running through town, 19:04 – running from the buffalos, 19:20.
22	6:41 – listening to Princess Celestia’s announcement at her party, 6:49 – watching Celestia leave.
23	11:18 ~ 11:29 – standing in the audience for the performance in Rarity’s flashback, 12:02 – standing in the crowd for the sun-raising ceremony in Canterlot in Twilight Sparkle’s flashback, 12:04 – being pushed by young Twilight (without her horn), 12:12 – watching Princess Celestia take off (with her horn), 12:19 – watching the sun rise (without her horn), 12:25 – cheering. Duplicates: 12:04 – one earth pony duplicate in the crowd, 12:12 – at least four duplicates in the crowd, 12:19 – one earth pony duplicate.
24	None.
25	None.
26	6:45 – singing after Twilight Sparkle’s part of the song, 9:20 – standing outside the VIP section of the Grand Galloping Gala, 9:22 – inside the VIP section, 11:48 ~ 12:05 – mingling in the crowd, 13:11, 18:23 – watching Applejack push in her apple cake. Duplicates: 9:20 – one duplicate outside the VIP section, 9:22 – one duplicate inside the VIP section.

Season two
1	None.
2	20:36-21:08 – several unicorn clones in the crowd.
3	16:34-16:46 – part of the crowd fighting over Smarty Pants, 16:48 - kicked away by Big McIntosh, 17:25 - fighting with Sweetie Drops over Smarty Pants, 17:55 - lying next to Dizzy Twister and Apple Bloom in the aftermath.
4	Dressed up as a mummy: 06:38-06:57 watching Luna arrive, 13:17 cheering Luna on when she smashes pumpkins, 15:04 cowering, 15:47 standing around, 16:37 standing around sad, 21:06 laughing. Hornless with moderate cerise eyes, wearing a bonnet: 14:42 behind Luna.
5	In the crowd.
6	Afraid of Apple Bloom's Cutie Pox.
7	None.
8	Admires RD then annoyed by RD and then admire the mysterious mare do well.
9	Seen in crowd, 2 clones in crowd too.
10	07:18 - Standing next to Sweetie Drops  and being surprised by Derpy in the well.
11	Seen in the audience on the other side, Part of the play, seen opening the door for Princess Platinum and in the crowd.
12	None.
13	None.
14	2:42 - in the crowd cheering for Applejack.
15	Seen during the song, bouncing during the competition, saying no to Flim and Flam.
16	None.
17	0:02+3:31 in Ponyville square next to Sweetie Drops, 13:34 running around in a panic in Apple Bloom's imagination.; Earth pony clone: 3:35 at the funeral.
18	Multiple times during the Smile Song.
19	1:40 sitting on a table in the background reaching out for her soda cup,1:53 chatting with Sweetie Drops.
20	4:26 listening to Twilight
21	None.
22	None.
23	10:05 – reading the Foal Free Press
24	None.
25	12:50 As one of Princess Cadance's bridesmaids, along with Minuette and Twinkleshine ~ minor speaking role. ("I love them!")
26	In the wedding audience; walks evilly towards Twilight and Cadance, under Queen Chrysalis's influence; in the wedding audience again; during the reprise of This Day Aria, running from changelings; during and after the wedding reception, ready to catch the bouquet, pushed aside by Rarity, unimpressed.

Season three
1	None
2	None
3	13:23 In the crowd complaining about the many Pinkie's.
4	12:50 In the crowd of the Harvest Day Parade, listening to Sweetie Drops.
5	18:08 Drinking a soda next to Sweetie Drops before Twilight performs a fake spell on Pinkie Pie.
6	None
7	None
8	None
9	1:49 Seen at the market next to the apple stall.
10
11
12
13	Yes; Seen near the end jumping all hyper like Pinkie

MerchandiseEdit

A mini-figure toy first released in January 2012 appears in the third wave of mystery packs and in a Hasbro-licensed board game, being of the same pony kind and bearing the same cutie mark, coat color, mane color, and eye color as the unnamed character on the show, though her mane is missing the white streak. Her pose and mane style are the same as the Twilight Sparkle mystery pack toy mold. The toy comes in two variations, light teal as the toy pictured to the right, and Irish green as the drawing on the card. The European mystery pack release names her Heartstrings and includes a collector card stating that she "sings all day!" The U.S. mystery pack release names her Lyra Heartstrings and includes a collector card stating that she "sings and plays all day!"^[5] The European board game release's Swedish, Danish and Finnish descriptions all name her Lyra Heartstrings as well, while its Norwegian description names her Lyra Heartstring.

A "Pony Wedding" brushable toy named Lyra Heartstrings was displayed in prototype form at the 2012 New York Toy Fair, and was released later in the same year, sometimes with a MiniDVD of Lesson Zero. This brushable toy's packaging still uses the eye design of Twilight Sparkle, but uses the mane style usually seen on Minuette and Sea Swirl. According to the package, Lyra Heartstrings "loves to play! She finds a way to have fun no matter where she goes".

The fifth wave of mystery pack toys features a second mini-figure named Lyra Heartstrings, differing from the first mini-figure in that her coat is much lighter and her mane now has a white streak. The European release includes a collector card stating that she "loves to play!" The U.S. release includes a collector card that uses the same description as the previous U.S. collector card.

Upcoming toy releases displayed at the 2013 New York Toy Fair include a Toys "R" Us exclusive brushable release arriving in-store Summer 2013^[6] and a third mini-figure with the same pose and mane style as the Rarity mini-figure toy mold.^[7]

The designer of the Comic Con 2011 promotional poster commented in an online forum that he intentionally placed Lyra and Sweetie Drops together for the poster, even though they were only coincidentally placed together in the series.^[8]

Lyra adorns a collectible trading card along with Golden Harvest, with the description "There's two in every crowd! Lyra Heartstrings is an excitable pony often seen bouncing and grinning at the back of the herd or lolling in the park sharing bonbons with Golden Harvest, her PFF. Golden Harvest earned the nickname Carrot Top because carrots are always on her mind. These two ponies can be found all over Equestria, enjoying various activities like jumping across rooftops, running from buffalo, and joining in musical numbers!"

WeLoveFine.com carries Hasbro-licensed merchandise of fan designs of Lyra, often posed similarly to her slouch in Dragonshy. The products include T-shirts, art prints, dioramas, and others.

QuotesEdit

"I love them."

— A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1

"You're not going anywhere."

— A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2

"I want it!"

— A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2

GalleryEdit

Lyra Heartstrings image gallery

See alsoEdit

• List of ponies
• Lyra on the Fan Wiki

ReferencesEdit

1. ↑ Layout artist "Nayuki" discussing naming of Lyra Heartstrings (2011-11-05). Retrieved on 2011 November 7.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} FiM layout artist discussing coincidental pairing of Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops on the show, 2011-03-09
3. ↑ Layout artist "Nayuki" discussing Nightmare Night costumes of Lyra Heartstrings (2011-10-22). Retrieved on 2012 November 13.
4. ↑ Layout artist "Nayuki" discussing Luna Eclipsed (2011-10-22). Retrieved on 2012 November 13.
5. ↑ Lyra Heartstrings's U.S. Mystery Pack Card (Wave 3). Retrieved on 2012 October 6.
6. ↑ Timeline Photos. Facebook (2013-02-09). Retrieved on 2013 February 9.
7. ↑ Upcoming #mlpfim #tfny #tf13 mini figs. Stitch Kingdom (2013-02-09). Retrieved on 2013 February 9.
8. ↑ FiM Comic Con 2011 poster designer discussing the poster, 2011-07-20

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