Posted on 18 Oct 2023.
Yes, everypony, it happened.
I already knew about these adult fans of My Little Pony, bronies, for a while and never really disliked them or anything, and when Reddit did its second r/place-event in 2022 I got quite invested in how they were doing on the canvas. Every so often after that, I checked on the subreddit for My Little Pony (as well as some furry-subreddits, which also grew into an interest into the furry-community, with me even going to a local furmeet) and started to quite like the art and discussions there. I already started learning about the generations, the show(s) that each had, and was already able to name and recognize quite a few ponies by name.
Somwhere later that year, someone posted asking about where to watch Friendship is Magic, the show for the fourth generation (which started the brony-community), and a response linked to a playlist on Youtube that contained the entire show just like that (including the Equestria Girls spinoff).
I saved this playlist, as I already had thoughts about possibly wanting to actually watch the show one day, and this meant not having to use sketchy sites for it.
(The only thing missing was the movie, but the channel has a Ko-Fi, and the one post there has it available through Dailymotion).
(There are other places to watch or download as well).
And on the 25 of june this year (2023), it happened. I watched My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - Season 1, episode 1: 'Friendship is Magic (Part 1)'. (and as the first two episodes are a 2-parter, Part 2 as well). It definitely gave feelings of being somewhat childish at times (a show for children being childish? Who could have guessed), yet something caused me to want to continue watching it. Something hooked me. And continue watching I did.
I decided to keep just to Friendship is Magic, the main series, which as I then found meant the first 7 seasons, My Little Pony: The Movie, season 8, The Best Gift Ever (a holiday special) and finally season 9, with Rainbow Roadtrip (another special) halfway through. I started off with only one episode daily, but this increased as I progressed through the series, ending up at me watching 6 episodes daily. I started really enjoing watching it. There were episodes that I liked less and some that I liked more, but I liked all of them.
And on the 5 of september I watched Season 9, episode 26: 'The last problem', the final episode. And I cried (not that I didn't cry at some earlier episodes, mind you). It was over. And I liked it. I never imagined enjoying a show intended for 7 year old girls that much, but I did.
After watching a few things from Friendship is Magic that I missed (some shorts and Friendship is Forever), discussion about the spinoff-series Equestria Girls (with an alternate universe were the ponies are instead humans, with a portal connecting the two) and how people seem to generally recommend it as well (these days) caused me to look into that as well. So I watched the 4 Equestria Girls movies, and the 8 specials as well. The movies were alright but not earth-shattering, but I ended up liking those specials quite a bit.
An then I set my sights at the fifth generation. My Little Pony: A New Generation was nice and I enjoyed it quite a lot. Make your Mark (the longer-form 3D-animated series on Netflix) started off rough, but improved as it went on, and I am now eagerly awaiting the last 4 episodes to drop. Now Tell your Tale (the short-form 2D-animated series on Youtube) though...
I am watching it because people said that it contained lore, but really, everything important also gets shown in Make your Mark. I don't mind the art style at all (some people don't really like it), but something about the storytelling, pacing and sound design just does not vibe with me. I will finish it (I already watched 60 episodes and the first season is scheduled to have 70, so it's only 10 more), but probably won't continue watching the following seasons. Sadly, current information suggest Make your Mark won't be continuing, so that might mean my pony watching adventure might be ending soon.