My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

***My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic*** is an animated children's television series based on the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's *My Little Pony* toyline. The series was developed by Lauren Faust, who sought to create a show with a more adventurous setting and deeper characters resembling how she played with the toys when she was younger. It was one of several shows used to kickstart The Hub and continued to air on the network when it was rebranded as Discovery Family. It aired for nine seasons from October 10, 2010 to October 12, 2019, becoming the network's longest-running program.

The series proved to be one of the The Hub's most successful and highest-rated programs and provided Hasbro with new merchandising opportunities. Despite being targeted at young girls, the show garnered a following among older viewers, particularly adult men, who called themselves "bronies". Its success led to a spin-off franchise, *My Little Pony: Equestria Girls*, which ran along the series for six years, as well as a feature film and a spin-off series, *My Little Pony: Pony Life*, which aired from 2020 to 2021.

## Premise

In the kingdom of Equestria, three species of ponies - earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns - live together harmoniously. Twilight Sparkle, a studios unicorn, travels to Ponyville to learn about the friendship at the urging of Equestria's ruler (and her mentor) Princess Celestia. Twilight and her dragon assistant Spike become close friends with five other ponies: Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. The ponies discover they represent different faces of friendship, which are represented by the Elements of Harmony, and have adventures in and around Equestria, solving problems in their friendships.

## Characters

### The Mane Six

The six main characters and a core group of friends brought together by the Elements of Harmony, a set of mystical jewels and an unstoppable force for good used to defend Equestria against powerful threats. A seventh character, Spike, acts as a foil to the Mane Six in terms of personality.

* **Twilight Sparkle** (voiced by Tara Strong) - A socially naive, lavender unicorn and the main protagonist of the show. Depicted for the first three seasons as a unicorn with a pink-streaked indigo mane, she becomes an alicorn after "Magical Mystery Cure". Twilight is the most intellectual member of the group, leading them on adventures and helps resolve her friends' differences. She is a natural-born leader, an intelligent and dutiful scholar wise beyond her years, with an avid love of learning and scientific discoveries. Often rational and calm, she has perfectionist tendencies with severe paranoia and rarely accepts failure. She is also prone to suffer from nervous breakdowns with confronted with difficult problems beyond her understanding, though she learns to overcome this. She is the protege of Princess Celestia and represents the Element of Magic. Her cutie mark is a six-pointed star, representing her talent of magic and love of books and knowledge, with five smaller stars indicating that her destiny is with her friends. She resided with Spike and pet owl Owlowiscious in Ponyville's Golden Oaks Library, but later lives in a castle where she resides as the Princess of Friendship starting at the end of Season 4, where she has the responsibility of spreading friendship and harmony across Equestria and to her friends.
* **Applejack** (voiced by Ashleigh Ball) - A diligent, orange earth pony with a yellow mane and tail and whose family owns a farm at the Sweet Apples Orchard in Ponyville with her family and pet dog Winona. She is a "farm gal" who sports a cowboy hat and speaks with a Texas southern accent. She is honest, courageous, forthright and the most down to earth of the group, being a trustworthy friend who is optimistic and has good judgement. She is also too eager to please, with several episodes focusing on her interaction with the Flim Flam Brothers, who exploit her vulnerability, or focus on her taking on a "herculean task". She represents the Element of Honesty. Her cutie mark is a trio of apples, which represents her agriculture lifestyle and love for her family.
* **Rainbow Dash** (voiced by Ashleigh Ball) - An egotistical, sporty blue pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail. Her main goal at the beginning of the show is to join her heroes, an elite aerobatic team known as the Wonderbolts, later joining them as a trainee. She helps other pegasi manage the weather around Ponyville and spends time practicing flight maneuvers such as the "Sonic Rainboom", a rainbow-colored sonic boom. She lives in a floating condominium of clouds called the Cloudominium, with her pet tortoise Tank who sports a propeller. She represents the Element of Loyalty. Her cutie mark, a trio of balloons, represents her talent for spreading hope and joy and her desire to entertain her friends.
* **Rarity** (voiced by Tabitha St. Germain) - A glamorous white unicorn with a curled violet mane and tail who owns a boutique. She is a ladylike fashionista and businessperson who speaks with a Mid-Atlantic accent and runs a franchise of brand name flagship stores throughout Equestria, operating out of her salon in Ponyville called Carousel Boutique. Despite her arrogant and melodramatic tendencies, she has a generous spirit and strives to create dresses that capture their wearers' inner beauty. She represents the Element of Generosity. Her cutie mark, a trio of diamonds, represents her talent for prospecting gemstones and her love for art and beauty.
* **Fluttershy** (voiced by Andrea Libman) - A timid yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail who loves other animals. True to her name, she is defined by her shy sweetness, soft and whispery voice, and tender, nurturing nature. She possesses a unique affinity for animals that allows her to communicate with them. She lives in a secluded meadow cottage in Ponyville where she cares for forest creatures such as her conniving and willful pet rabbit Angel. Many episodes show Fluttershy to exhibit a tough personality that emerges whenever a friend or animal is threatened or hurt, in contrast to her normally and timid and mild-mannered self. Her most prominent ability, "the Stare", causes any creature that meets it to become powerless and moved to meekness by its effect. She represents the Element of Kindness. Her cutie mark, a trio of butterflies, represents her talent as an animal caretaker and her love for nature.
* **Pinkie Pie** (voiced by Andrea Libman) - A fun-loving pink earth pony with a dark-pink balloon mane and tail who loves to throw parties. She is a party planner at Sugarcube Corner, a bakery and confectionery store that resembles a gingerbread house. A comic relief character who grew up on a rock farm, Pinkie is a hard worker motivated in seeing other people she loves smiling and relieving them of stress by randomly throwing parties and acting as outlandish as possible, but she has a lack of confidence and a fear of being rejected by others. Pinkie is a source of much of the show's humor and gags. While Pinkie appears to be a naive party animal, she also displays admirable skills in science and technology. She represents the Element of Laughter. Her cutie mark, a trio of balloons, represents her talent of spreading hope and joy and her desire to entertain her friends.
* **Spike** (voiced by Cathy Weseluck) - A small purple dragon with green spines and Twilight's assistant. Spike was orphaned as an egg and hatched by Twilight as part of her entrance exam for Celestia's academy and has since been raised in her family as her adopted younger brother. Spike fulfills the role of Twilight's "number one assistant" to which he is named for his loyalty and skill at helping her solve problems and learn lessons. He also has a crush on Rarity, an insatiable appetite for gems, and the ability to send letters via his fiery dragon breath. In "Molt Down", he gains a pair of wings after undergoing through the "molt", a developmental stage for dragons.

### Recurring

#### The Royal Family

The Royal Family are the highest-ranking ponies in the nation of Equestria.

* **Princess Celestia** (voiced by Nicole Oliver) - The benevolent alicorn ruler of Equestria and Twilight's mentor who has ruled Equestria for over a thousand years. She uses her magic to raise the sun while Luna controls the moon and is perhaps the most beloved creature in the world, being a staunch proponent of international peace, kindness, and cooperation. She and Luna discovered the Elements of Harmony, with which she has secured national piece for a millennium. Her status as an alicorn is seen as a symbol between all pony species, and her mentoring Twilight guided her to becoming a princess.
* **Princess Luna** (voiced by Tabitha St. Germain) - Princess Celestia's younger sister who serves as a co-ruler of Equestria and uses her magic to control the moon and safeguards her subjects' dreams during nighttime. At the beginning of the show, she was revealed to have become bitter as everyone slept under her rule and were awake, which transformed her into Nightmare Moon and attempt to create an enteral night, but was banished to the moon by Celestia. After escaping from the moon to carry out her plan, Nightmare Moon was defeated by the Elements of Harmony and returned to being Luna, who returned to her royal duties working with Celestia.
* **Shining Armor** (voiced by Andrew Francis) and **Princess Cadance** (voiced by Britt McKillip) - Shining Armor is Twilight's older brother and former captain of the guard, and Princess Cadance is his alicorn wife and Twilight's sister-in-law and childhood foalsitter. They first appear and get married in "A Canterlot Wedding", and later become the rulers of the Crystal Empire. At the beginning of season 6, Cadance gives birth to an alicorn daughter, Flurry Heart.

#### The Cutie Mark Crusaders

A club of young fillies who go on adventures to discover their special and talents and earn their cutie marks.

* **Apple Bloom** (voiced by Michelle Creber) - Applejack and Bic McIntosh's sassy younger sister who formulates and spearheads most of the group's missions.
* **Sweetie Belle** (voiced by Claire Corlett) - Rarity's kindhearted and younger sister who has a talent for singing and strives to become a fashion designer like Rarity.
* **Scootaloo** (voiced by Madeleine Peters) - A pegasus filly who suffers from an inability to fly and instead uses her wings to propel on her scooter. She idolizes Rainbow Dash, who acts as an older sister figure and mentor to her in return. Scootaloo lives with her aunts Holiday and Lofty while her parents are traveling and studying exotic creatures for the name of science.

### Friends and allies

* **Discord** (voiced by John DeLancie) - A draconequus and the spirit of chaos and disharmony who once ruled Equestria until Celestia and Luna used the Elements of Harmony to turn him to stone. He appears in the two-part "The Return of Harmony" after breaking free of his imprisonment and once again began to spread chaos until the Mane Six used the Elements to turn him back to stone. In "Keep Calm and Flutter On", he is released under orders from Celestia in hopes of reforming, which succeeds after he is befriended by Fluttershy. He appears in several episodes afterwards as a reluctant ally of Twilight and her friends, occasionally still causing mischief while struggling to become a better friend to them.
* **Big McIntosh** (voiced by Peter New) - Applejack and Apple Bloom's older brother, who does not talk very much and often speaks by saying "ee-yup" and "nope". He is also known as Big Mac.
* **Granny Smith** (voiced by Tabitha St. Germain) - Applejack, Apple Bloom and Big Mac's grandmother and the head of the Apple family, who has a sharp wit and a fuzzy memory and is stated to be one of Ponyville's first settlers.
* **Starlight Glimmer** (Kelly Sheridan) - A unicorn with strong magic and introduced as a villain in "The Cutie Map", where she was the founder and leader of a village where she wished to build equality by magically removing other ponies' cutie marks because she thought they caused disharmony. However, Twilight exposes her ruse, and she flees, only to return for revenge in "The Cutie Re-Map" by going back in time to prevent Twilight's friends from becoming a group, with Twilight and Spike following her and winding up in several different alternate timelines. After seeing Equestria in ruins, Starlight admits that she lost connection with her childhood friend after he gained his cutie mark and left to study magic in Canterlot, which lead her to believe that cutie marks ruin friendships. Twilight convinces Starlight to change her ways and make new friends, and even takes her on as a student.

#### The Young Six

A group of six adolescent creatures who attend as students at the School of Friendship run by Twilight and her friends at the beginning of Season 8.

* **Smolder** (voiced by Shannon Chan-Kent) - A cocky and competitive dragon who was initially resistant to the idea of friendship. After meeting her new friends, however, she learns to become more open and revealed to secretly like things like dresses, makeup, and tea parties.
* **Ocellus** (voiced by Devyn Dalton) - A shy and studios changeling who can change her appearance into that of other creatures, much like other changelings.
* **Silverstream** (voiced by Lauren Jackson) - The hyperactive niece of Queen Novo who can alternate between the forms of a seapony and hippogriff.
* **Yona** (voiced by Katrina Salisbury) - A friendly and clumsy yak who is shown to be excitable but has her vulnerabilities like referring to herself in third person. She is the strongest of the Young Six and often uses her strength to help out.
* **Gallus** (voiced by Gavin Langelo) - A sarcastic griffon who is initially unfriendly towards others, though he becomes warmer and friendlier while maintaining his sarcastic personality. He is claustrophobic and an orphan.
* **Sandbar** (voiced by Vincent Tong) - A laid-back earth pony who usually serves as the "straight man" to counterbalance his friends' more eccentric personalities.

## Episodes

Main article: *List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes*

## Reception

### Critical

*Friendship Is Magic* received significant praise throughout its run, with critics and parent groups praising its characters, morals, and messages. Additional praise went towards its animation style, stories, and exploration of feminism. It also appeared on several best-of lists as one of the top animated shows of all time.

### Ratings

*Friendship Is Magic* premiered with an average viewership of 1.4 million per month, increasing to 4 million per month to become the highest-rated Hasbro program by the end of its first season. According to *Vox*, it reached its peak in 2012 and 2014. By March 2013, The Hub reported that the series had triple and quadruple digit percent year to year growth, and by September of that year had become the most watched show on the network for girls age 2-11 and women ages 18-49. A month later, it appeared as one of the most co-viewed television series and placed alongside *Littlest Pet Shop* as The Hub's pest performing show. The show had a viewership of over 12 million in America by the first quarter of 2014, with ratings declining in the following years.

### Fandom

Despite being targeted at young girls and their parents, *Friendship Is Magic* found an unexpected audience in the form of adult Internet users, mostly male between the ages of 13 and 35, who were drawn to the show's characters, stories, animation style and influence of its propagation as an Internet meme. The source was traced to cartoon and animation fans on 4chan responding to an essay on the show. This led to a subculture that spread throughout the Internet and inspired a fanbase, with male viewers who dubbed themselves "bronies", and female viewers called "pegasisters". Though initially considered propagation to the humorous and ironic concept of people enjoying a show for young girls, the fandom has come to show much appreciation for the show far beyond this concept and grew into a trend. The fandom quickly led to several references in pop culture; a notable example being the *Bob's Burgers* episode "The Equestranauts", which openly satirizes bronies and their conventions.

The appreciation of the show from older audiences came as quite a surprise to Hasbro, Faust and others involved in its development, who have since come to embrace these fans while still focusing on their target audience. Reciprocity led to participations by the producers and voice actors at several conventions, recognition of the brony fandom in promotional material, and background characters being popularized by fans; a nod to the fans was made with the episode "Slice of Life", which was created and focuses specifically on background characters brought to popularity popular by these adult fans. These efforts in particular are held as to being the reason *Friendship Is Magic* has proved so successful and The Hub's highest-rated program.

## Home media

Main article: *My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (videography)*