My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

This is a series produced by Hasbro in 2010. It was famed for being the creation of Lauren Faust, however she left after season two. She cited her pregnancy as the reason for leaving, but everyone knows it's because the old men in Hasbro pushed her out for not letting her have her way with her own series, like naming Princess Celestia Queen Celestia, or making Twilight Sparkle canonically have Asperger's, amongst other things. The show is incredibly famous and created a huge fandom. The show was initially aimed at little girls between 5 and 8, but as the fandom grew it became apparent that the majority of the fanbase was grown men. The show, unlike other shows in the past, adjusted to work with its new fanbase and tried to balance it between adult men and young girls. This set in place the concept that shows really would listen to their fans to some extent, making fandoms work in tandem with the public fanbase (as opposed to the occasional fan letter and personally evoked something in a creator). Due to the main character being named Twilight Sparkle, the association of "twilight", especially in combination with "sparkle", shifted from vampires to ponies, and it still sticks a bit there to this day, but I think it's somewhat more free of both, but definitely no longer sticking to the Twilight Saga. I would say that the way My Little Pony taught lessons and pushed the value of friendship completely changed internet culture and modern culture, leading the 2010s (ironically) into their cancel culture ways, with the help of many other elements (pun intended) from other fandoms, websites, and subcultures of the era. Basically, I resent it, though I do like the show a little.

The show is about a pony named Twilight Sparkle under the guidance of regent-goddess Princess Celestia. She is set to help setup a spring celebration in a small town, and her warnings of her evil sister returning from the moon fall upon deaf ears. In the end of the two-part episode special she and her new friends free the goddess's sister from her curse and she is brought back home to rule alongside her, and Twilight Sparkle is asked by Celestia to live in Equestria to learn more about friendship. Each episode ends in a friendship lesson henceafter.

The world consists of a mostly pony nation with various other species. Animals talk in their own animal language and live wildly, but other mystical creatures seem to exist here and there and can talk (some of them, anyways). I left the show around season 3 because it was too racist for me, what with the bison, mule, and zebra situation, as well as the treatment of Spike and other mystical characters. That was back in the 2010s, and this was somewhat controversial on tumblr, but for the most part did not seem impact the show in the ways that fans against that sort of thing would have wanted it to be changed. It was heralded as a way to dodge racism thanks to keeping it in pegasi, unicorn, and earth pony lines, but adding zebras as "African" ponies and straight up making the bisons a speaking people that were against ponies moving onto their stomping grounds really messed things up. I mean, what am I supposed to be? Even with the mystical setting, I don't think ponies and bison can breed together. Should I have been a deer or antelope instead? How am I supposed to make my ponysona without understanding how that takes place in the world?