Top 10 Smartest My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Characters

This is a list about the smartest characters in MLP:FIM. Feel free to add some other characters to this list. Only My Little Pony:Friendship is Magic characters.
The Top Ten
1 Twilight Sparkle Twilight Sparkle is the primary main character of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. She is a female unicorn pony who transforms into an Alicorn and becomes a princess in Magical Mystery Cure.

No one can deny this. Twilight was shown to be book smart and eventually became clever with life-threatening and weird situations in Ponyville too! I find it so impressive that she managed to find the Mane 6 in Ponyville and that she was able to become an alicorn because of it. And she was able to bring the Pillars back!

She is so smart. No wonder she is Princess Celestia's most faithful student and the member of the Mane Six who became an alicorn. Not only that, her mind is sharper than the others. She's the one who could figure out the truth about evil Cadance and the counterspell in the Season 3 finale (Magical Mystery Cure).

She is also a good character and very educational. Probably one of the most underrated characters of MLP FIM.

2 Applejack Applejack is a female Earth pony and one of the main characters of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. She lives and works at Sweet Apple Acres with her grandmother Granny Smith, her older brother Big McIntosh, her younger sister Apple Bloom, and her dog Winona. She represents the element of honesty... read more

Applejack is not book smart. However, she is still smart. Applejack makes good decisions, knows how to manage her orchard (has been doing it since Season 1), knows how to handle dangerous situations despite just being an earth pony with immense strength, and is a reliable pony for a reason.

She works with what she has. Applejack has a good skillset, and I admire her for that. List of examples: saving Applebloom from a three-headed creature, calling out Rara's manager, Applejewel (all of this to help a friend/family member).

3 Princess Luna

Figuring out ponies' internal struggles must be very hard.

On par with her sister for intelligence.

4 Princess Celestia Friendship is Magic." As the ruler of Equestria, she is depicted as wise, benevolent, and possessing magical powers. Princess Celestia raises the sun and governs alongside her sister, Princess Luna. Her mentorship of Twilight Sparkle is a central element of the show's storyline, emphasizing leadership,... read more

She literally taught Twilight and is shown to be willing to defend Equestria from villains. She still stood against Tirek and even banished her sister to the moon to protect Equestria. Princess Celestia is so smart, but she sacrificed a lot.

Excuse me? She should be number one! She is at least 1500 years old, ruled Equestria alone for 1000 years, taught genius ponies, was taught by Star Swirl the Bearded, and probably learned during Luna's banishment, which was 1000 YEARS.

Ruled over Equestria for a long time, took on Nightmare Moon, and chose the right group for Twilight to start friendships in, also the right town.

5 Star Swirl the Bearded

In "A Hearth's Warming Tail," Twilight's description of him led to Spike saying, "We get it. Starswirl's awesome." But he could be a little more social, which could have prevented the whole Stygian and darkness conflict in the first place.

Okay, also like Clover the Clever, we don't know him that much because he is a historical pony. He probably lived before Ponyville was founded. So, we don't see him in the show. We can only imagine how he looks. Okay, he is smart and legendary.

He managed to make the spell A one to another. Another to one. Each mark of destiny fulfilled. Even if he didn't understand the magic of friendship as well as Princess Twilight, he is still smart.

6 Discord Discord, also known as the Spirit of Disharmony, is a former-antagonist-turned-supporting-protagonist in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

He's not bookish or knowledgeable. Instead, he can come up with genius ideas and clever tricks. That, in my opinion, is more intelligent than book smarts, which Celestia and Twilight have.

If he's so powerful that he's omniscient, the fact that he has gotten beaten twice by mortal ponies doesn't exactly tell me that he's that smart.

How is he not the smartest? He is such a trickster. He can trick Twilight! How is he below Rarity?

7 Starlight Glimmer Starlight Glimmer is a recurring character, initially an antagonist, in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. She first appears in the season 5 premiere, The Cutie Map. From The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 2 to Celestial Advice, she is Twilight Sparkle's student in the ways of friendship.

Even as an antagonist, Starlight was always able to manipulate others and control them. She was able to take the Mane 6's cutie marks. The Mane 6's! When she was defending ponies from Chrysalis, Starlight fought her so well and almost defeated her. She was able to work well to stop other villains and save her friends, even in the human realm!

Like others have said, she never had any mentor, and in some ways, her magical talent surpasses Twilight's. Just imagine if Starlight had a mentor when she was young. Her powers could likely rival that of Celestia herself.

One thing that I take from Starlight being so powerful with no mentor is that perhaps some ponies are simply born with greater ability, and she falls into that category.

Another thing about Starlight: recently, she has become a voice of reason and has aided Twilight in making sound decisions. School Daze is a perfect example. In that episode, Twilight was too quick to give up on her school of friendship. With a bit of tough love, Starlight got her to realize not to cave in to Chancellor Neighsay.

8 Cheerilee

Ms. Cheerilee definitely isn't as smart as Twilight, Maud, or Starswirl, but she's still smart. She teaches the kids about all kinds of different topics, from physics to Cutie Marks.

She's a teacher. She must be pretty smart.

9 Maud Pie

Maud is super smart, but no one ever talks about it. She's constantly raving on about rocks and how she can tell exactly what kind of rock a rock is simply by looking at a little detail. She definitely needs more credit for how smart she is!

Her knowledge of rocks is second to none.

10 Princess Cadance Princess Candace is a character from the animated series "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic." She serves as the ruler of the Crystal Empire alongside her husband, Shining Armor. Known for her calm demeanor and wisdom, she is a guiding figure for other characters in the series. However, she faces her... read more

She is definitely smarter than she looks. She's smart enough to rule a kingdom, so I'll let you make your decision here.

I bet she's smarter than she looks.

The Contenders
11 Sunburst

He is really smart in magic with all those books he loves to read.

12 Pinkie Pie Pinkie Pie is a major character in the 2010 show My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, based on Surprise from My Little Pony G1, She represents the element of Laughter.

If the Mane Six were to take an IQ test, I think Pinkie would get the highest score (although Rarity, Twilight, and probably even Rainbow Dash would also get high scores). There is a very deep layer of complexity under her simple exterior, and she displays a lot of creativity in regards to her style of partying.

She has displayed an ability to organize on par with Twilight, and she was able to dominate the scavenger hunt in The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows. Out of all the characters seen in the show, I think the only other pony who can compete with Pinkie in regards to IQ would be Maud. It makes sense, as I imagine that a super-genius gene runs in their family.

13 Cozy Glow

Seriously, she is probably the smartest villain. Her or Tirek. She knew exactly how to manipulate everybody into getting what she wanted and have everyone on her side. She basically thought of everything!

14 Moon Dancer
15 Sunset Shimmer Sunset Shimmer is a female unicorn pony-turned-human and former antagonist introduced in My Little Pony Equestria Girls. She is a student at Canterlot High School, a former student of Princess Celestia, and a rhythm guitarist for the student band The Rainbooms.

She has saved her friends and everyone from many disasters after being a disaster. Sunset's redemption arc through Rainbow Rocks and Legend of Everfree showed that she was changing, but her actions in Friendship Games really helped.

Sunset was so smart that she was the only person in Canterlot High ever to make it to the last round of the Academic Decathlon, was Princess Celestia's student, and figured out many of the solutions to the problems happening in the human world (how to defeat the Sirens, why the Mane 6 were starting to pony up in random places, the source of the magic the Mane 7 were getting, and how to defeat Midnight Sparkle).

16 Rarity Rarity is a female Unicorn pony from the 2010 Animated Television Series My Little Pony:Friendship is Magic. She is the element of Generosity and her main passion is fashion.

Rarity investigating showcases her intelligence. She is smart in her business skills and probably knows how to make the right decisions when it comes to her business deals.

Rarity is not smart like Twilight or many of the others here. She is smart with people and knows how to get her way. Take when she whines her way out of the Diamond Dogs' tunnels, for instance. She also knows everything there is to know about making clothes, and that takes some learning!

After Twilight, both Pinkie and Rarity are pretty intelligent. People who say Applejack or someone else need to rewatch the whole show to understand.

17 Apple Bloom Apple Bloom is a female school-age Earth pony and a member of the Apple family. She appears as a secondary character in the animated children's television series, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Apple Bloom is the younger sister of Applejack and Big McIntosh, as well as the granddaughter of Granny... read more

Out of all the Cutie Mark Crusaders, I would say Sweetie Belle is the smartest, but Apple Bloom is up there. Sometimes her plans don't work, but she is pretty smart, along with Scootaloo.

18 Rainbow Dash Rainbow Dash is a female Pegasus pony from the 2010 kids' show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. She represents the element of loyalty and is one of the six main characters on the show... read more

Rainbow Dash may not be the smartest in My Little Pony, but she is still super smart, fast, beautiful, kind, and intelligent. She just learns differently. So the lot of you better stop talking negative things about her, as those insults I've been seeing are false and will always come back to you.

If you can't speak highly of anyone whom most people like, then it is best if you don't say anything at all. Yeah, you heard me. You can talk negatively about Flash as he is rude, but never those who show kindness and harmony.

19 Fluttershy Fluttershy is a female pegasus pony from the 2010-2019 animated TV show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. She is a kind pegasus and is very timid and shy. She takes care of the animals. She represents the element of kindness

Oh my God, she isn't stupid! She's about right there with Twilight and Celestia.

She is one of the smartest (besides Twilight) of the Mane 6 because she can do anything if she puts her mind to it. You can see this in one of the Equestria Girls episodes, Fluttershy's little birdie.

20 Spike Spike, also known as Spike the Dragon, is a male "pre-teen" dragon and one of the seven main characters of the animated series, My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. He is Twilight Sparkle's best friend and number one assistant. He has the ability to magically deliver scrolls to and from Princess Celestia... read more

He is playful and sarcastic, so that must mean he has enough "knowledge" to use more complicated speech patterns and be smart. Also, he knows what is the right thing to do when the situation calls for it, so I believe he is pretty intelligent.

Now, I know a lot of people don't like Spike. I think he's okay, but he is actually pretty smart. Like in the episodes "Just for Sidekicks," "The Cutie Pox," and others.

Spike might be smart because he is Twilight's assistant or something.

21 Zecora

Zecora is underrated. She seems wise to me and knows a lot of things other ponies do not know.

Hooves down! It's Zecora. She knows the spells that most ponies do. She can make potions, and she learned to live in the Everfree Forest.

She knows so many spells, and I don't mean spells with magic, but spells with potions. No one else throughout the entire show can brew potions the way she does.

22 Queen Chrysalis Queen Chrysalis is a female changeling who serves as the main antagonist for the season 2 finale of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. She appears again later in the show, and teams up with other villains

Probably the smartest villain, even though she's ultimately defeated.

23 Clover the Clever

We obviously don't know much about Clover the Clever. We haven't even seen her. But I DO know she's extremely smart. Here's how: On Wikipedia, it said Clover was Star Swirl's star pupil. But Celestia ALSO got mentored by Star Swirl. And Celestia was also the one who taught Twilight.

Twilight turned out to be really smart, thanks to Princess Celestia. But Celestia wasn't Star Swirl's prized pupil. Clover was. So that just proves that Clover is extremely... well, clever!

We actually don't know much about Clover the Clever, but it says on Wikipedia that she is Starswirl the Bearded's most faithful student, like Twilight is Princess Celestia's most faithful student.

24 Adagio Dazzle

She played around with the entire main cast. Twilight even crumbled and cried! How is she not at the very top, assuming most of you believe Twilight's the best?

The best. Her manipulating skills are impressive.

25 Flash Sentry
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