My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fan fiction

The fan fiction subculture of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom emerged almost immediately following the show's premiere in October 2010. The character Derpy Hooves was coined by the brony fandom after spotting her in the first episode of the show. Through fan fiction, the brony community collectively gave a previously unnamed background character a name and an agreed-upon backstory: a clumsy but good-natured mail carrier pony who loves muffins.{{cite thesis|last=Meyers|first=Rachel Elizabeth|title=In Search of an Author: From Participatory Culture to Participatory Authorship|year=2014|publisher=Brigham Young University|location=Provo, Utah|pages=30–31}}

{{Main|FIMFiction}}

Launched in July 2011,{{cite web |url=https://www.fimfiction.net/faq/questions/172/when-was-fimfictionnet-started|title=When was Fimfiction.net started?|access-date=2025-04-12|date=2011-07-22|website=FIMFiction.net}} FIMFiction is the largest repository of Friendship Is Magic fan fiction.{{cite book |last1=Domoney-Lyttle |first1=Zanne |last2=Welton |first2=Rebekah |title=Bibles in Popular Cultures |series=The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies |year=2024 |publisher=T&T Clark |isbn=9780567702210 |url=http://digital.casalini.it/9780567702210}} By July 2015, FIMFiction had 185,014 users and 86,009 published stories.{{cite journal |last1=Yin |first1=Kodlee |last2=Aragon |first2=Cecilia |last3=Evans |first3=Sarah |last4=Davis |first4=Katie |title=Where No One Has Gone Before: A Meta-Dataset of the World's Largest Fanfiction Repository |journal=CHI 2017 |year=2017 |pages=6106-6110}} {{As of|2025}}, there are 624,034 registered users and 155,375 approved stories.{{cite web|url=https://www.fimfiction.net/statistics|title=Site Statistics|website=FIMFiction.net|access-date=2025-04-12}} Unlike Fanfiction.net, the site includes thousands of user groups covering topics from writing support to character-specific discussions, each with its own forum, serving as a "writing school". Research has identified "distributed mentoring" within these communities, where writers receive feedback from multiple members across various channels. This system provides both technical writing guidance and emotional support through the collective input of community members.{{cite journal |last1=Evans |first1=Sarah |last2=Davis |first2=Katie |last3=Evans |first3=Abigail |last4=Campbell |first4=Julie Ann |last5=Randall |first5=David P. |last6=Yin |first6=Kodlee |last7=Aragon |first7=Cecilia |title=More Than Peer Production: Fanfiction Communities as Sites of Distributed Mentoring |journal=CSCW '17 |year=2017 |pages=259-272}} For example, one writer posted a rubric on how to create an antagonist, and in response, over twenty group members posted their own rubrics, and multiple others offered critique and suggested improvements to them.{{cite book |last1=Aragon |first1=Cecilia Rodriguez |last2=Davis |first2=Katie |title=Writers in the Secret Garden: Fanfiction, Youth, and New Forms of Mentoring |publisher=The MIT Press |year=2019}}

Unlike many fan fiction communities that trend female in participation, FIMFiction has a predominantly male audience.{{cite journal |last1=Campbell |first1=Julie Ann |last2=Aragon |first2=Cecilia |last3=Davis |first3=Katie |last4=Evans |first4=Sarah |last5=Evans |first5=Abigail |last6=Randall |first6=David P. |title=Thousands of Positive Reviews: Distributed Mentoring in Online Fan Communities |journal=CSCW '16 |year=2016 |pages=691-704}}

{{Main|/mlp/}}

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The My Little Pony board on 4chan, /mlp/ is a subset of the My Little Pony fandom with its own anonymous culture and norms. Like 4chan, /mlp/ operates through anonymity and lack of user registration, with users commonly referring to themselves and others as anons. This environment has spawned specific forms of fan fiction, including the "Anon in Equestria" format, where an anonymous human character represents either the author or the collective identity of the anonymous community. /mlp/ users frequently discuss both creative content and their relationship to the general brony community on other social media, often positioning themselves as separate from mainstream bronies.

{{Main|FanFiction.Net}}

FanFiction.Net hosted many early works in the fandom before FIMFiction's launch in July 2011. Notable early fan fiction like "Cupcakes," an infamous horror story by Sgt. Sprinkles in which Pinkie Pie is depicted as a serial killer, were originally published on FanFiction.Net.

Various works of Friendship Is Magic fan fiction have been adapted into various media formats beyond text. Audio adaptations include dramatic readings and audio plays, with notable works like Fallout: Equestria receiving full-cast audio productions. Furthermore, some fan fiction have been translated into multiple languages, published as a ebook, and as a physical hardcover novel.{{Cite web|date=2013-01-31|title=What's real anymore? My Little Pony / Fallout novels|url=https://www.destructoid.com/whats-real-anymore-my-little-pony-fallout-novels/|access-date=2021-07-09|website=Destructoid|last1=Ponce|first1=Tony}}

Research has shown that fan translators in the brony community often create collaborative online spaces that differ from traditional hierarchical translation groups found in other fandoms. Collaborative translation projects utilize online platforms like Google Docs and Etherpad to create "dialogic spaces" where participants negotiate meaning, provide constructive feedback, and develop expertise in language, literature, and technology. Studies of Russian-speaking bronies translating fan fiction into English have shown how participants develop distinct roles based on their expertise while maintaining democratic decision-making processes.{{cite journal |last1=Shafirova |first1=Liudmila |last2=Kumpulainen |first2=Kristiina |title=Online collaboration and identity work in a brony fandom: Constructing a dialogic space in a fan translation project |journal=E-Learning and Digital Media |volume=18 |issue=3 |year=2021 |pages=269–289 |doi=10.1177/2042753020988920}}

Collaboration also serves as an educational tool within the Friendship Is Magic fandom, as it enables non-native English speakers from countries like Russia and Spain to develop language skills through meaningful engagement with content they enjoy. The process typically follows structured workflows—from initial preparation through drafting, editing, and final native speaker review—that require participants to develop sophisticated understanding of linguistic nuances and cultural contexts across both languages.

{{See also|Fandub}}

Fandubbing is another creative practice that complements the fan fiction of the brony fandom. Similar to the experiences of the Russian brony interviewed by Shafirova and Cassany in their study of language acquisition, My Little Pony fandubbers often engage in meticulous translation and voice acting work that not only strengthens their fan identity, but also develops their language skills. One fan noted that fandubbing was an opportunity to learn English, but in doing so, wanted to apply their acting skills as well as be part of the community by producing new content for the international brony audience.{{cite book |last=Baños |first=Rocío |chapter=Young Audiences and the Phenomenon of Fandubbing |editor1-last=Dore |editor1-first=Margherita |title=The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Young Audiences |publisher=Routledge |year=2023 |pages=466-478 |isbn=9781003291169 |doi=10.4324/9781003291169-39}}

In May 2022, The Tax Breaks—a 17-minute fan-made episode based on a work of My Little Pony fan fiction—was released, demonstrated the emerging use of AI voice synthesis technology in fan fiction adaptations. The episode was created using 15.ai, a text-to-speech platform that generates character voices, allowing creators to produce voiced content without traditional voice actors.{{cite web |last=Abisola |first=Shojobi |date=January 3, 2025 |title=The MIT Project That Paved Way For Modern Voice AI | url=https://independent.ng/the-mit-project-that-paved-way-for-modern-voice-ai/|url-status=live | access-date=February 27, 2025|website=Independent|archive-date=February 27, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227050616/https://independent.ng/the-mit-project-that-paved-way-for-modern-voice-ai/}}{{cite web |last=Scotellaro |first=Shaun |date=2020d |title=Full Simple Animated Episode - The Tax Breaks (Twilight) |url=https://www.equestriadaily.com/2022/05/full-simple-animated-episode-tax-breaks.html |access-date=January 1, 2025 |website=Equestria Daily}}

Fan fiction genres include:

{{See also|Alternative universe (fan fiction)}}

Alternate universe (AU) stories reimagine the My Little Pony universe or characters in different settings, timelines, or circumstances than those presented in the show.{{cite web|title=Animation with Alesha: Horror-ifying children's media is going too far|url=https://www.thepostathens.com/article/2024/02/horror-tiktok-childrens-media-trauma|first=Alesha|last=Davis|website=The Post|date=2024-02-11|access-date=2025-04-12}} This genre allows writers to explore "what if" scenarios by changing fundamental aspects of the canon universe while still using the familiar characters (e.g. Fallout: Equestria).

In the 2020s, a horror-themed subgenre of AU stories known as "Infection AUs" gained popularity across social media platforms like TikTok. These alternate universes depict zombie-like outbreaks spreading through Equestria, transforming the normally friendly ponies into disturbing, hostile entities. Notable infection universes include The Everfree Infection (inspired by the COVID-19 lockdowns), Harmony Syndrome (featuring ponies becoming cannibalistic amalgams), and My Little Virus (depicting a "Decay Virus" with visual novel-style presentation).{{cite web|url=https://www.trillmag.com/entertainment/infection-spreads-across-my-little-pony/|title=Infection Spreads Across My Little Pony|date=2024-04-20|access-date=2025-04-12|website=Trill Mag|first=Riley|last=Miller}}

The infection AU trend built upon the fandom's earlier horror traditions, such as My Little Pony creepypasta stories like Rainbow Factory and My Little Amnesia. Unlike these earlier works, infection AUs typically featured ongoing narratives developed through sequential social media posts, frequently combining visual art with written storytelling elements. By 2024, the trend had expanded beyond My Little Pony to other family-friendly animation fandoms, including Bluey, Miraculous Ladybug, and Pokémon.

{{See also|Self-insertion}}

Self-insert fan fiction involves authors inserting themselves (or a ponysona, a character representing themselves) into the story as a participant in the narrative, allowing them to imagine themselves interacting with the ponies and Equestria directly. One common variation involves the Anon in Equestria format, where a generic anonymous human character (representing either the author, the reader, or the collective identity of the anonymous community) finds themselves transported to Equestria and interacts with the show's characters. These narratives often function as wish fulfillment, allowing fans to imagine scenarios where they receive acceptance from the pony characters or develop romantic relationships that satisfy desires they might not express openly in their everyday lives. Within these communities, pony characters who are the object of romantic attraction are frequently referred to as waifus (derived from a Japanese approximation of wife), with fans often discussing their strong emotional attachments to these fictional characters.

{{Main article|Clop (erotic fan art)#Clopfics}}

Clopfics are explicit or pornographic My Little Pony fan fiction.{{cite thesis |last=Bajor |first=Jan |title=Między bajką a perwersją – pornografia i erotyka fanowska w środowisku internetowym na przykładzie fandomu My Little Pony: Przyjaźń to Magia |trans-title=Between fairy tale and perversion - fan pornography and erotica in the internet environment using the example of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fandom |type=Master's thesis |publisher=University of Warsaw |location=Warsaw |date=June 2015 |department=Institute of Sociology, Faculty of Philosophy and Sociology |language=pl}} On FIMFiction, erotic stories are managed through a comprehensive content rating system: explicit sexual content is labeled with the "sex" tag. The Clopfics group on FimFiction is the largest community on the site. The site also hosts several specialized erotic subgenres. The range of erotic content in these stories varies widely, from mild romantic encounters to explicit material featuring BDSM, non-consensual scenarios, and various sexual fetishes.

Academic research has found that self-insert fiction in the My Little Pony fandom functions as a means for fans to process their relationship with masculinity and explore identity formation in a safe, anonymous space. In a 2017 study in Sexualities, Bailey and Harvey examined how some fans on anonymous platforms like 4chan's My Little Pony board (/mlp/) use self-insert narratives to collectively negotiate aspects of identity, particularly related to gender and sexuality. Sexual content is notably common in these stories, with many Anon in Equestria narratives featuring romantic or sexual encounters between the human protagonist and pony characters. Bailey and Harvey observed that explicit sexual stories involving human–pony relations serve to reinforce community members' shared attraction to specific pony characters, and functions as an important component in forming communal identity and collective experiences within these online communities.{{cite journal |last1=Bailey |first1=John |last2=Harvey |first2=Brenna |title='That pony is real sexy': My Little Pony fans, sexual abjection, and the politics of masculinity online |journal=Sexualities |date=2017 |volume=0 |issue=0 |pages=1–18 |doi=10.1177/1363460717731932 }}

Based on interviews with 30 male fans and ethnographic observations at four brony conventions, researchers identified two distinct approaches to masculinity within the fandom: emotive interpreters and aggrieved remixers. Emotive interpreters engage with the show and its fan fiction primarily for emotional expression and connection. These men described finding the show during periods of emotional need and value the community as a space where they can express emotions more freely than in traditional masculine space; researchers found that their fan fiction often emphasizes themes of friendship, vulnerability, and emotional growth.

In contrast, aggrieved remixers—identified by researchers as the dominant group—transform the show's content through their fan fiction to assert more conventional masculine themes. These writers frequently introduce violent themes, sexualized content, and military imagery that reinterpret the show's feminine-coded elements through a hegemonically masculine lens. A popular example is Fallout: Equestria, which places the ponies in a post-apocalyptic setting with themes of violence and warfare.

Zachary Palmer, the author of the study, argued that while some bronies use the fandom to explore more emotionally expressive versions of masculinity, others reshape the narrative to reinforce conventional masculine norms, sometimes through explicitly antifeminist framing.{{cite journal |last1=Palmer |first1=Zachary D. |date=April 2022 |title="I'm Going to Love and Tolerate the Shit Out of You": Hybrid Masculinities in the Brony Community |journal=Men and Masculinities |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=87–105 |doi=10.1177/1097184X211031969}}

Case studies of younger bronies indicate that for some, fan fiction participation serves as a site for identity negotiation. In one ethnographic study, a 15-year-old male fan named James embraced his identity as a "sort of" brony while engaging with the community's ironic and humorous elements. The researcher observed how James' participation in writing My Little Pony fan fiction represented a form of "transgressive humor, and resistance to conformity" that connected to his earlier childhood reading practices. For this young writer, My Little Pony fan fiction functioned as what the researcher termed a "gel" connecting his earlier childhood interests in works like Captain Underpants to more mature creative expressions, allowing him to craft a coherent narrative of identity development across different life stages.{{cite book |title=Reading for Pleasure: International Perspectives |last1=Cremin|first1=Teresa|last2=McGeown|first2=Sarah |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781040326473 |date=2025-03-19 |doi=10.4324/9781003519003 |pages=17-18}}

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|quote="If not for this fanfiction, I would have never begun writing and would likely never have ended up at the school or place in life where I am now. By picking up fanfiction—which led to a major in Creative Writing—I’ve likely made a significant impact on the rest of my life."

|author=An anonymous author of My Little Pony fanfiction

|source=Writers in the Secret Garden: Fanfiction, Youth, and New Forms of Mentoring

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Research on language acquisition indicates that non-native English speakers in communities across Russia and Spain engage with the fandom's creative works as a means of improving their English proficiency outside traditional educational settings. Fans develop self-directed learning strategies when consuming and producing content, including establishing personalized viewing routines with and without subtitles, consulting online transcripts for comprehension, and utilizing digital dictionaries and translation tools.{{cite journal |last1=Shafirova |first1=Liudmila |last2=Cassany |first2=Daniel |title=Bronies learning English in the digital wild |journal=Language Learning & Technology |volume=23 |issue=1 |year=2019 |pages=127–144 |url=https://doi.org/10125/44676}}

Some advanced community members participate in collaborative translation projects, including the adaptation of non-English fan fiction into English. These activities involve structured workflows with preparation, drafting, editing, and native speaker review phases, which require complex understanding of both languages and cultural nuances. These community-driven educational practices have attracted attention from researchers in digital literacy, language acquisition, and fan studies, who note that the affective engagement with the franchise provides strong motivation for sustained language learning that formal educational environments may struggle to replicate.

The fan fiction community's distributed mentoring system has been identified as a powerful educational framework where writers develop skills through feedback from multiple community members. Authors interviewed in studies have reported marked improvements in their writing skills through fan fiction participation. One author noted, "Writing fan fiction and getting instant feedback over the past couple of years has improved my writing significantly."

In his 2014 article Reconsidering religion and fandom, history professor Andrew Crome examined the use of cutie marks as theological symbols in Christian brony fan works. Crome analyzed how My Little Pony fan fiction writers utilized the established concept of cutie marks to explore religious narratives and ideas. In one example, DracoDei's "Pony James Version" portrays Christ as an earth pony whose cutie mark appears posthumously, showing "his hoof covering something" that symbolizes his covering of sin. Crome noted that since cutie marks represent raisons d'être in Equestrian society, Christ's lack of mark until death served to "further establish his humility," which illustrates how fans incorporate established show elements to communicate religious concepts within the brony community.{{cite journal

|last=Crome

|first=Andrew

|date=2014

|title=Reconsidering religion and fandom: Christian fan works in My Little Pony fandom

|journal=Culture and Religion

|volume=15

|issue=4

|pages=399–418

|doi=10.1080/14755610.2014.984234

|url=https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/619586/1/Reconsidering%20Religion%20and%20Fandom%20submission%208%20September%20NOT%20FOR%20REVIEW%20.pdf

}}

According to a 2018 study on the brony fandom, 8.6% of respondents reported that they frequently created fan fiction of My Little Pony; 39% of the same respondents reported that they read brony fan fiction almost daily.

Statistical analysis has shown that among fan fiction communities, the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom exhibits distinct participation patterns, with clear seasonality in posting activity that correlates with school holiday periods in the northern hemisphere. Romance, humor, and drama are the most popular genres within the fandom, accounting for a significant portion of published works.

The fandom continues to produce new content even after the conclusion of the television series in 2019. Fan-created works experienced a sharp increase in popularity during the COVID-19 lockdowns.{{cite journal |last=Moran |first=Joe |title=Their little pony: The weird world of fandom |journal=TLS. Times Literary Supplement |issue=6266 |date=May 5, 2023 |pages=7 |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A749302577/LitRC?u=camb27002&sid=googleScholar&xid=27e32f1d |access-date=April 12, 2025}}

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| footer = New FIMFiction story approvals and user registrations from 2011 to 2024 per year (left). Cumulative FIMFiction stories and users from 2011 to 2024 (right). A noticeable uptick in newly registered users can be seen from 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 lockdowns.

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• My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fandom
• Music of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom
• Art of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.fimfiction.net/ FIMFiction.net]
• [https://www.fimfiction.net/story/119190/fallout-equestria Fallout: Equestria on FIMFiction.net]
• [https://www.fimfiction.net/story/25966/austraeoh Austraeoh on FIMFiction.net]
• [https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7745399/ Cupcakes on FanFiction.Net]
• [https://www.fimfiction.net/story/5381/rainbow-factory Rainbow Factory on FIMFiction.Net]
• [https://www.fimfiction.net/story/41596/past-sins Past Sins on FIMFiction.Net]

Category:My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom

Category:Fan fiction

{{Fan fiction}}