My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is a Canadian-American cartoon that was shown on The Hub/Discovery Family. It was made by Lauren Faust, who also worked on other cartoon shows which are The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. It was put on TV on October 10, 2010. The show's idea comes from the My Little Pony toys, which are made by the big toy company Hasbro.

Characters

Main Characters
 Twilight Sparkle (voiced by Tara Strong, singing voice by Rebecca Shoichet) — A violet unicorn pony with an indigo, purple, and pink mane. She has a six-pointed star surrounded by 5 smaller stars as her cutie mark on her flank. She represents the Element of Magic. She became an alicorn princess in the third season finale, when she finished writing a spell that was started by Star Swirl the Bearded.
 Applejack (voiced by Ashleigh Ball) — An orange earth pony with a lemon yellow mane. She has three red apples as her cutie Mark. She represents the Element of Honesty. She lives on Sweet Apple Acres with the rest of the Apple family.
 Rainbow Dash (voiced by Ashleigh Ball) — A sky blue pegasus pony with a multicolored mane and tail. She has a rainbow-colored lightning bolt for her cutie mark. She represents the Element of Loyalty. She loves to fly fast, and is a newer member of the Wonderbolts.
 Pinkie Pie (voiced by Andrea Libman, singing voice by Shannon Chan-Kent) — A pink pony with a magenta mane and tail. She has yellow and blue balloons as her cutie mark. She represents the Element of Laughter. She is very energetic and loves to throw parties.
 Fluttershy (voiced by Andrea Libman) — A lemon yellow pegasus pony with a pink mane and tail. She has three butterflies for her cutie mark. She represents the Element of Kindness. She loves spending time with animals and is very quiet.
 Rarity (voiced by Tabitha St. Germain, singing voice by Kazumi Evans) — A white unicorn pony with a purple mane and tail. She has three blue diamonds as a cutie mark. She represents the Element of Generousity. She loves making dresses at her shop, the carousel boutique.
 Spike (voiced by Cathy Weseluck) — A male purple and green baby dragon and Twilight Sparkle's best friend and number one assistant. He has been with Twilight since the very beginning.
 Sweetie Belle (voiced by Claire Corlett, singing voice by Michelle Creber only from seasons 1-3) - A white unicorn pony with a grayish raspberry mane and tail and the leader of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She is Rarity's younger sister.
 Apple Bloom (voiced by Michelle Creber) — A pale yellow earth pony with a brilliant amaranth mane and tail and one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She is Applejack's younger sister.
 Scootaloo (voiced by Madeleine Peters) — A light brilliant amber Pegasus pony with moderate cerise mane and tail and one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She also looks up to Rainbow Dash.
 Princess Celestia (voiced by Nicole Oliver) - A white alicorn pony, a co-ruler of Equestria alongside her sister Princess Luna, and the adoptive aunt of Princess Cadence. She is also been a teacher/mentor of Twilight Sparkle at different periods of time.
 Discord (voiced by John de Lancie) - A draconequus (a dragon-like animal with body parts from different animals) and one of Fluttershy's best friends. He represents the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. He has been close friends with Fluttershy since she helped him learn to behave himself.

Popularity on the internet

Though the show was only going to be for young girls, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic has become popular on the Internet with many fans of the show being males aged 15 to 35. The My Little Pony fans from the Internet are from the cartoon and animation fans on the Internet board 4chan.

In October 2010, shortly after the show started, Web blog Cartoon Brew wrote a blog called "The End of the Creator-Driven Era in TV Animation", which had attacked the show for being supported by a big brand name, saying that "today networks clearly prefer established properties over original ideas, and dislike dealing with individual artists who have a clear creative vision". That means that the writer did not like that the people who put TV shows on TV would put shows on that had a brand name and told older boring stories instead of TV shows that had new or original stories. The people in "/co/", the place in 4chan for cartoons and animations, who hadn't seen the show yet, were interested by the alarmist words in the blog and began watching the show, and liked the show for the story, characters, and animation style. Their reaction soon spread to the general board, "/b/", of 4chan. The reaction from 4chan created many My Little Pony recurring jokes and memes on the site.

Fans of the shows call themselves a "brony", a combination of the words "bro" and "pony". At first it was only meant to be used by male fans but the word is now used to describe any older fan of the show without it describing only one gender. A parody of Katy Perry's "California Gurls" called Equestria Girls was used for an ad by The Hub for the show, which has lyrics that also say the word "brony". Its title was later made into a movie which has human versions of the ponies in the show. Websites like "Equestria Daily" and "Ponychan" have been created to share stories, artwork, and news about the show. The websites get more than 100,000 visits a day. A video made by a high school student named Stephen who was using science to dissect some of the physical impossibilities on My Little Pony as part of a class presentation appeared on many news stations and also appeared on Tosh.0. During a phone interview on NPR's comedy radio show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! in June 2011, past President Bill Clinton correctly answered three questions about the show which led one journalist to jokingly refer to him as a brony.

The creator and executive producer for the show, Lauren Faust, has shown that she likes the older fans of the show through her DeviantArt page. In the first episode, a pegasus pony in the background at one time had crossed eyes, which was a mistake by an animator. The boards on 4chan called the character "Derpy Hooves". Faust listened to the fans, having wanted the character to be named "Ditzy", but let the pony's name stay as Derpy, and the people working on the show have kept the Derpy character with the cross-eyed look, putting her in episodes as a silly background character.

To help people who were in the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, Faust sold some original drawings from the show along with a new picture of Derpy Hooves. The Derpy Hooves picture sold for more than $2000 on eBay.

At the end of Season 1, one of the show's animators said that Derpy would say some lines in Season 2. In the episode "The Last Roundup", which shows Applejack competing for the Equestria Rodeo, Derpy Hooves talked a few times. Rainbow Dash says Derpy's name and Derpy speaks with a young boy's voice. At first, people thought that her voice was done by Brian Drummond, but it was Tabitha St. Germain, who didn't know at first that Derpy was female. Parent groups complained that this was insensitive to people with disabilities, and Hasbro changed the episode by making the pony's voice more girly and making Rainbow Dash not say her name. Another pony character with neon colors in her hair, wearing sunglasses and using a DJ set in one episode, was given the stage name of "DJ P0N-3" in a poll with the other choices being "DJ Clip Clop", "Scratch", "Deadhor5" and "DJ Raverider". DJ P0N-3 was later in the Equestria Girls ad and has been a background character in some other episodes. Derpy and DJ-PON 3 eventually starred in the show's 100th episode, Slice of Life, which focused on the show's background characters as a tribute to the fans.

All episodes are 22 minutes long and the season comprises of 26 episodes, with the exception of the third season, which contains 13 episodes.

Episodes

Season one
The first season and overall series has premiered on October 10, 2010 and last aired on May 15, 2011 on the Hub/Hub Network/Treehouse TV. It's also the first season of the series to air on the Hub/Hub Network/Treehouse TV.
 Friendship is Magic (Part 1)
 Friendship is Magic (Part 2)
 The Ticket Master
 Applebuck Season
 Griffon the Brush-off
 Boast Busters
 Dragonshy
 Look Before You Sleep
 Bridle Gossip
 Swarm of the Century
 Winter Wrap Up
 Call of the Cutie
 Fall Weather Friends
 Suited for Success
 Feeling Pinkie Keen
 Sonic Rainboom
 Stare Master
 Show Stoppers
 A Dog and Pony Show
 Green Isn't Your Color
 Over a Barrel
 A Bird in the Hoof
 The Cutie Mark Chronicles
 Owl's Well That Ends Well
 Party of One
 The Best Night Ever

Season two
The second season has premiered on September 12, 2011 and last aired on April 16, 2012 on the Hub/Hub Network/Treehouse TV.
 The Return of Harmony (Part 1)
 The Return of Harmony (Part 2)
 Lesson Zero
 Luna Eclipsed
 Sisterhooves Social
 The Cutie Pox
 May the Best Pet Win!
 The Mysterious Mare Do Well
 Sweet and Elite
 Secret of My Excess
 Hearth's Warming Eve
 Family Appreciation Day
 Baby Cakes
 The Last Roundup
 The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000
 Read It and Weep
 Hearts and Hooves Day
 A Friend in Deed
 Putting Your Hoof Down
 It's About Time
 Dragon Quest
 Hurricane Fluttershy
 Ponyville Confidential
 MMMystery on the Friendship Express
 A Canterlot Wedding (Part 1)
 A Canterlot Wedding (Part 2)

Season three
The third season has premiered on November 5, 2012 and last aired on February 11, 2013 on the Hub/Hub Network/Treehouse TV.
 The Crystal Empire (Part 1)
 The Crystal Empire (Part 2)
 Too Many Pinkie Pies
 One Bad Apple
 Magic Duel
 Sleepless in Ponyville
 Wonderbolts Academy
 Apple Family Reunion
 Spike at Your Service
 Keep Calm and Flutter On
 Just for Sidekicks
 Games Ponies Play
 Magical Mystery Cure

Season four
The fourth season has premiered on November 18, 2013 and last aired on May 5, 2014 on the Hub/Hub Network/Treehouse TV. It's also the last season of the series to air on the Hub/Hub Network.
 Princess Twilight Sparkle (Part 1)
 Princess Twilight Sparkle (Part 2)
 Castle-Mania
 Daring Don't
 Flight to the Finish
 Power Ponies
 Bats!
 Rarity Takes Manehattan
 Pinkie Apple Pie
 Rainbow Falls
 Three's a Crowd
 Pinkie Pride
 Simple Ways
 Filli Vanilli
 Twilight Time
 It Ain't Easy Being Breezies
 Somepony to Watch Over Me
 Maud Pie
 For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils
 Leap of Faith
 Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3
 Trade Ya
 Inspiration Manifestation
 Equestria Games
 Twilight's Kingdom (Part 1)
 Twilight's Kingdom (Part 2)

Season five
The fifth season has premiered on March 30, 2015 and last aired on November 23, 2015 on Discovery Family/Treehouse TV. It is also the first season of the series to air on Discovery Family. This includes the 100th episode overall in the series.
 The Cutie Map (Part 1)
 The Cutie Map (Part 2)
 Castle Sweet Castle
 Bloom and Gloom
 Tanks for the Memories
 Appleoosa's Most Wanted
 Make New Friends but Keep Discord
 The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone
 Slice of Life (100th episode overall)
 Princess Spike
 Party Pooped
 Amending Fences
 Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?
 Canterlot Boutique
 Rarity Investigates!
 Made in Manehattan
 Brotherhooves Social
 Crusaders of the Lost Mark
 The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows
 Hearthbreakers
 Scare Master
 What About Discord?
 The Hooffields and McColts
 The Mane Attraction
 The Cutie Re-Mark (Part 1)
 The Cutie Re-Mark (Part 2)

Season six 
The sixth season has premiered on March 21, 2016 and last aired on October 17, 2016 on Discovery Family/Treehouse TV.
 The Crystalling (Part 1)
 The Crystalling (Part 2)
 The Gift of the Maud Pie
 On Your Marks
 Gauntlet of Fire
 No Second Prances
 Newbie Dash
 A Hearth's Warming Tail
 The Saddle Row Review
 Applejack's "Day" Off
 Flutter Brutter
 Spice Up Your Life
 Stranger Than Fan Fiction
 The Cart Before the Ponies
 28 Pranks Later
 The Times They Are a Changeling
 Dungeons and Discords
 Buckball Season
 The Fault in Our Cutie Marks
 Viva Las Pegasus
 Every Little Thing She Does
 P.P.O.V. (Pony Point of View)
 Where the Apple Lies
 Top Bolt
 To Where and Back Again (Part 1)
 To Where and Back Again (Part 2)

Season seven 
The seventh season has premiered on April 10, 2017 and last aired on October 23, 2017 on Discovery Family/Treehouse TV. This is the first season in the series with the first two episodes that is not a 2-part premiere.
 Celestial Advice
 All Bottled Up
 A Flurry of Emotions
 Rock Solid Friendship
 Fluttershy Leans In
 Forever Filly
 Parental Glideance
 Hard to Say Anything
 Honest Apple
 A Royal Problem
 Not Asking for Trouble
 Discordant Harmony
 The Perfect Pear
 Fame and Misfortune
 Triple Threat
 Campfire Tales
 To Change a Changeling
 Daring Done?
 It Isn't the Mane Thing About You
 A Health of Information
 Marks and Recreation
 Once Upon a Zeppelin
 Secrets and Pies
 Uncommon Bond
 Shadow Play (Part 1)
 Shadow Play (Part 2)

Season eight 
The eighth season has premiered on March 19, 2018 and last aired on October 13, 2018 on Discovery Family.
 School Daze (Part 1)
 School Daze (Part 2)
 The Maud Couple
 Fake It Til You Make It
 Grannies Gone Wild
 Surf and/or Turf
 Horse Play
 The Parent Map
 Non-Complete Clause
 The Break Up Break Down
 Molt Down
 Marks for Effort
 The Mean 6
 A Matter of Principals
 The Hearth's Warming Club
 Friendship University
 The End in Friend
 Yakity-Sax
 Road to Friendship
 The Washouts
 A Rockhoof and a Hard Place
 What Lies Beneath
 Sounds of Silence
 Father Knows Beast
 School Raze (Part 1)
 School Raze (Part 2)

Holiday Special (2018) 
Best Gift Ever counted as an episode throughout the series from their confirmation, the 196th episode overall.
 My Little Pony: Best Gift Ever

Season nine 
The ninth season was announced on February 17, 2018 at Hasbro's Entertainment Brand Preview Media Event at the New York Toy Fair. It premiered on April 6, 2019. This includes the 200th episode overall in the series. This is the final season in the series.
 The Beginning of the End (Part 1)
 The Beginning of the End (Part 2)
 Uprooted
 Sparkle's Seven (200th episode overall)
 The Point of No Return
 Common Ground
 She's All Yak
 Frenemies
 Sweet and Smoky
 Going to Seed
 Student Counsel
 The Last Crusade
 Between Dark and Dawn
 The Last Laugh
 2, 4, 6, Greaaat
 A Trivial Pursuit
 The Summer Sun Setback
 She Talks to Angel
 Dragon Dropped
 A Horse Shoe-In
 Daring Doubt
 Growing Up is Hard to Do
 The Big Mac Question
 The Ending of the End (Part 1)
 The Ending of the End (Part 2)
 The Last Problem

References

Notes

Other websites
 Official website 
 Equestria Daily
 Ponychan

Channel Links

2010 television series debuts
2019 television series endings
2010s Canadian television series
2010s American animated television series
American children's television series
Canadian animated television series
Canadian children's television series
Internet memes
English-language television programs