My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is a show geared toward 6-year-old girls, yet happens to attract a teenage and early adult audience. Many people on the outside wonder why a 17-year-old guy could enjoy a show with magical unicorns and pastel-colored pegasi. Most have never bothered to watch it or have blocked the option of enjoying it from their minds. The MLP: FiM community understands this problem, choosing the phrase “love and tolerate” as a response to those who are haters and trolls. I, myself, am a fellow Pegasister, female Brony, here to give you the insight of why this show has created such a fandom.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is about a young unicorn named Twilight Sparkle (no relation to the Meyer book series) who is a student excelling in magic under her teacher, Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. Before coming to Ponyville, Twilight thought she only need her books and magic studies to succeed, so Princess Celestia sent her on a journey to learn about the benefits of true friendship. Throughout the series, Twilight makes good friends with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy the pegasi, Pinkie Pie and Applejack the “earth” ponies (“pony” is used in the same way we use the word “person,” meaning that unicorns and pegasi are still ponies), and Rarity the unicorn. Normally, at the end of each episode, Twilight or one of her friends has learned an important lesson on friendship, such as trusting, being honest, or never doubting friends, and writes a letter to Princess Celestia reporting what they’ve learned. The group of besties also helps protect Equestria from evil by using their powers, referred to as the Elements of Harmony. They show that using magic, loyalty, kindness, honesty, generosity, and laughter, (each element to its specific pony) you can do just about anything.

Still don’t understand why people love it so much? Unlike other children’s shows, the plot lines aren’t dumbed down so children will understand. Each plot line is highly developed and interesting, occasionally connecting to the other episodes. All the characters have adult voices or normal child voices, depending on age, reducing the obnoxiousness caused by squeaky, high-pitched voices normally found in children’s programming. Contrasting from most children’s shows, the characters never ask for help from the audience. You won’t find an episode where Fluttershy asks you, “Which path should I take?” or Rarity says “What should I do now?” Though the show is child friendly, it is certainly not teen repelling.
The reason teens and adults of both genders watch MLP: FiM is because we believe the lessons shown are important for us to remember and use in our daily lives. It is one of the few regular shows that are truly family friendly. There are many shows that call themselves family friendly, yet include things that children shouldn’t watch. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is a show that gives the true meaning of the word “friendship,” something we really need in today’s society. MLP: FiM doesn’t hide adult humor, which most kids wouldn’t understand, into the script or send inappropriate subliminal messages that they would remember later in life.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is a humorous, uplifting television program that should be watched by audiences of all ages and genders. I would give it two thumbs up, but I don’t want to let go of the remote and my popcorn bucket. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is created by Hasbro and can be watched on the Hub at varied times on weekdays or new on Saturdays at 10:30 A.M.