My Little Pony

Hello again!
A lot has changed since I was last on here, I forgot which email address I had used to set up this account (clever, I know) so I haven't been able to access it since August. But hey, I'm back! And in trying to find out which email address I had used for here, I managed to accidentally sign into an old blog of mine that holds many things I didn't want to lose - win/win!
So yeah, like I said, a lot has changed and I'm not entirely sure where to begin with that, possibly with the part that has made the most difference to me - My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I understand that this probably sounds crazy and no, I have not lost my mind, it may seem strange but please read on! The newest generation of My Little Pony ponies are some of the cutest things I've ever had the fortune to set eyes on, add to that a captivating story and important morals that are so basic they are often forgotten and boom, you have an amazing TV show! In my opinion at least. Someone very close to me, despite not wanting to, let me in on their secret of Pony love and I warily decided I would watch a bit of it to see what it was about. I was told "you're hooked after the first two episodes" and I think, knowing me, I probably accepted it more as a challenge than anything else. But right enough, I watched the first two episodes and it has been my guilty pleasure ever since! If someone from the future had come and told me a few months ago that I would soon be calling myself a 'Brony'/'Pegasister' (names given to fans of the show) and spending my time watching My Little Pony, thinking about ponies, drawing ponies, attempting to make models of ponies, trying to get my friends involved with ponies... I would have laughed. Honestly, I would have. It's the sort of thing that is so easily judged and like everything else that is shoved into categories and stereotypes, the idea everyone has of it is completely misinformed. You hear the words 'My Little Pony' and they're probably followed by "little girls", "kids", "gay", right? Wrong. Unlike Balamory and In The Night Garden, My Little Pony is something I would be quite happy to sit down and watch with my (theoretical) children. Just look at them:

Cuteness!

There are so many instances in the episodes where males and females, children and adults alike can relate to what's going on. For those who like music there are songs, for those who like challenges there are puzzles, for those who like cute things there's plenty here! And somehow, Lauren Faust (developer/producer) has managed to make all of this appeal to everyone between age 3 and 30+! It's neither too childish nor too grown-up, it allows you to indulge in factors of your childhood at the same time as respecting you are an adult. To outline the story, Twilight Sparkle was sent to Ponyville so she could learn the importance of friendship. This is something a lot of people seem to have issues with remembering; perhaps all we need is a little Pony in our lives to remind us of how special it really is. At the end of each episode Twilight writes a report to Princess Celestia, her teacher, which effectively recaps what the moral of the episode was. Her letters are really touching, including things like:

"Today I learned that it's hard to accept when someone you like wants to spend time with someone who's not so nice. Though it's impossible to control who your friends hang out with, it is possible to control your own behaviour. Just continue to be a good friend. In the end the difference between a false friend and one who's true will surely come to light."
"This adventure has taught me to never lose faith in your friends. They can be an amazing source of strength, and can help you overcome even your greatest fears."
and
"This week I've learned that being jealous and telling lies gets you nowhere in friendship. I also learned that there's plenty of love for every friend to share."
What is there not to like about such sweet and positive messages? They certainly leave a smile on my face and when not-so-great things have happened with my friends, I've reminded myself of Twilight's kind words and found some way to overcome whatever the problem was. This is the sort of thing we should be bringing our children up watching, it's not going out of its way to try to be educational or 'dumb things down' but it still gets important messages across and it can teach things so much more valuable than spelling and numbers. Also, unlike Teletubbies (for example) it's something they could grow up with and continue to embrace throughout teen years and adulthood. I really wish there was something like MLP:FiM around when I was younger, since watching it I have become a much better person and it has really opened my eyes to the world - if I had had the chance to watch it as I was growing up I doubt I would ever have had such a bitchy and hateful phase or lost so many of the people I held close to my heart. I urge you to at least give the first two episodes a shot, you may be incredulous and skeptical but there are not many people that this show doesn't appeal to in one way or another. It all begins here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZryW1J_wj4, which will lead you to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPUQvzibKGA&feature=relate and the next thing you know you'll be a Brony/Pegasister too! Come get involved on Twitter; search #TwitterBronies to find your new friends and check out the Brony-run websites  (I'd recommend http://bronyfarm.com/ and http://www.equestriadaily.com/!) to keep up to date with all things Pony!


I thank you if you've read this far, and hopefully leave you with a smile,
Helly xo