My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Unlike some bronies/pegasisters out there, I had actually never heard of the newest My Little Pony show from anyone else before getting into it. I discovered My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic in 2011 on my own while I was on YouTube looking up Disney music. In the related videos section, I saw a video that featured one of the show’s songs “At the Gala”, and it had many views. This intrigued me, and as I watched it, I was quite taken with the quality of the music considering that it was made for kids. At this point, I wasn’t actually sure whether what I saw was a show or movie, so I looked around on YouTube. The first episode of MLP: FiM (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) was episode 25, “Party of One”, where one of the main characters, Pinkie Pie, essentially goes insane because she believes her friends have rejected her. This episode shocked me. This wasn’t the My Little Pony I had grown up with at all. It was interesting, funny, and so much more enjoyable! The animation is beautiful and the stories and characters are so amusing. Not to mention, when I found out that Lauren Faust, the creator of Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, was the one that developed the show, it made me so happy because I’m a big fan of her works.

The overarching story is basically about a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle who is sent to Ponyville by her teacher, Princess Celestia, to learn about the magic of friendship with her group of friends. Each episode contains a lesson about friendship that Twilight and her friends report to Celestia at the end of every episode. The lessons presented by the creators are quite relatable as most of us have been through similar situations with our own friends, which makes the characters in the show relatable as well. The fact that I can relate to a technicolor pony on a kids show is proof that perhaps this show isn’t just for kids. Bronies, male fans of the show, have gotten a lot of grief for enjoying My Little Pony G4 (generation 4). Honestly, before entering the fandom, I might have been a little uncomfortable with the fact that adults males enjoy a girls show too. However, I completely understand why they love it now. This My Little Pony really isn’t a kids show but more of a family show. There is a big difference between a kids show and a family show. Family movies are like Disney movies, enjoyable at all ages and at any gender. MLP: FiM is not a girly kids show as some people may assume. It contains excellence moral lessons, music, adventure, comedy, emotion, and sometimes even action.

Something that surprised me is how complex some of the characters can be. Each pony of the Mane 6 is gifted with an Element of Harmony. These elements embody the character’s best character trait that is often displayed as they interact with others. However, just because the character embodies a certain trait, it doesn’t mean they are consistent with it. Let’s face it, real people aren’t going display the same traits all the time. For example, you may tend to be patient most of the time. But are you patient in every situation that has occurred in your life? Of course not, that’s what makes us deep and complex beings. This complexity is shown in the main ponies in the MLP. While they embodies certain traits, they aren’t always consistent with it. Rarity’s element is generosity, but she also struggles with selfishness when it comes to gems or fame. It’s one of the reasons that Rarity is my 3rd favorite in the show, with Fluttershy being 2nd and Princess Luna being 1st.

MLP brings complex characters and interesting settings/stories to the world of family shows. They have redefined what exactly a shown “meant for kids” can really do. The MLP:FiM fandom has grown so much, providing hundreds of new fanart, fanfiction, and fan-music every month. And while this fandom does have its own creeps and fanatics, it is still a very accepting group of fans. I have been a fan of this show for almost 3 years now, and I have to say that if you haven’t given MLP:FiM a chance yet, then you definitely should. Obviously, not everyone will like it, but it is worth at least one watch before you pass judgment.