Brony

With the release of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, the MLP fandom spread across the internet rapidly in 2011, and Route 50 was no exception. Route 50 saw a fair amount of drama with the rise of bronies in the site.
== Ponies ==
Ponies are native creatures of the magical land of Equestria. The three varieties of ponies are earth ponies, pegasus ponies, and unicorns. Adult ponies typically have cutie marks symbolizing their unique talents on their flank.
=== Bronies on Route 50 ===
Being an art site, many artists on Route 50 designed ponysonas and uploaded them to the galleries. After several staff members joined the fandom, the popularity of MLP exploded across Route 50 and took over the chat.
==== Reaction ====
Several members reacted violently to the rise of bronydom on Route 50, even going as far as to create an anti-MLP group. After several nasty conflicts between bronies and the anti-MLP group, Kat removed the group.
==== Pony Virus ====
The pony virus was one of Navarr's more notorious tricks. Some time in the summer of 2011, Navarr created the ^pony tag, which acted similar to the classic zombie infection game. There was a webpage on Route 50 that would give a member the pony tag, then provide a 'cure' link. By tricking another member into visiting the link, the first member would be able to pass on his or her pony tag. 
The tags were eventually removed due to the MLP group controversy. However, the infection page still exists.
=== In Fiction ===
Because My Little Pony and Homestuck became tremendously popular on Route 50 at the same time, the MLP and MSPA fandoms were often depicted as being at war with each other. One episode of RouteSaga pitted the Mane Six against the A2 session members (later revealed to be cosplayers). Additionally, Twill commissioned Frosti for a series of pictures depicting the two of them battling, with Twill wielding the Elements of Harmony and with Frosti wielding various strife specibi.
In reality, however, the two fandoms were never in conflict. There were indeed some bronies who hated Homestuck, or Homestuck fans who were leery of MLP, but for the most part, the two fandoms overlapped.
Category:Fandom