TheMy Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fandom (also known as thebrony fandom) has generated a vast body offan work, includingfan art.[1] Fans began creating fan art ofFriendship Is Magic shortly after theshow's premiere. As the brony community grew in prominence in the early 2010s, fan art production increased dramatically. Various art styles and themes emerged within the fandom, such as "humanized" versions of pony characters,[2]crossovers with other franchises,[3] andoriginal character (OC) creations known asponysonas.[4] A practice known asponification, where artists transform non-pony characters, people, or objects into pony form, is popular among fan artists.[5][6] The show itself is not the only source of inspiration for fan art; manybrony fan works have also subsequently inspired fan art.[4][7][8]Physical prints, customplushies,art commissions,stickers,keychains,T-shirts, and other pony-themed merchandise are frequently sold atMy Little Pony fan conventions.[6]
Despite theconclusion of the television series in 2019, the fandom continues to produce new content. As of November 2025[update],Derpibooru—the largest and most popularMy Little Pony imageboard[9]—hosts over 3.2 million images (excluding deleted and duplicate images) and over 520,000 registered users.[10]
Fan-made videos incorporating footage from the show are regularly posted on YouTube, including music videos, parodies, and remakes of movie and video game trailers.[11][12] One notable early video that attracted media attention was created by high school student Stephen Thomas, who used scientific principles to analyze physical impossibilities in the show as part of a class presentation in 2011.[13][14] This video was later featured on the Comedy Central showTosh.0.[11][15]
In 2011, filmmakerEdgar Wright featured pony versions of the trailers forScott Pilgrim vs. the World andHot Fuzz on his blog.[12]Top Gear also recognized a video using clips of their show that featured pony characters.[16] In 2012, a fan-created pony version of "Gangnam Style" was featured as a "must-see video" onThe Wall Street Journal.[17][18] In 2013, fan Zachary Rich created a full-lengthfan film titled "Double Rainboom" for his college coursework.[19] Pony-based parodies of"Weird Al" Yankovic's songs that Yankovic featured on his Twitter account led to discussions between him and the show's directors, and resulted inguest appearances by Yankovic in thefourth season episode "Pinkie Pride" and theninth season episode "The Last Laugh".[20]
Fans have developedfan games based onFriendship Is Magic, such as thefighting gameMy Little Pony: Fighting Is Magic, which was eventually renamed toThem's Fightin' Herds after acease and desist notice fromHasbro.[4] The upcomingindie shooterGet Your Tentacles Off MyWaifu! is another fan game inspired byFriendship Is Magic.[21] Other fan works includemods of existing games such asTeam Fortress 2 andThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.[22][23] Fans have also createdcrossovers betweenMy Little Pony and other franchises,[24] such as "Turnabout Storm," a crossover with theAce Attorney series.[25][26] Someweb applications allow fans to create their own ponyoriginal characters[27] known asponysonas.[8]
Ponification is the practice of transforming non-pony characters, people, objects, or events into pony form.[2] The term was officially recognized in the open-source Webster dictionary in 2017, defined as "bestowing the harmonious qualities relating to the magic of friendship upon a person, creature, fictional figure, or inanimate object by converting into the likeness of an animatedMy Little Pony character."[5][28] Ponification is not limited to the fandom, as the show itself has featured ponified versions of pop-culture personalities.[29][30] Aponysona is a ponification of one's self.[8]
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Merchandise ofMy Little Pony fan art (colloquially calledbrony swag) is sold at vendor halls atbrony conventions likeEverfree Northwest orPonyville Ciderfest.[31][32] Types of commonly purchased merchandise include clothing items like T-shirts, socks, and backpacks, as well ascommissioned artwork,physical prints, and posters. Other common merchandise forms includefigurines,plushies, accessories likemousepads andglassware,lunchboxes,stickers,DVDs, and games.[6]
My Little Pony fan art has been used in the development ofAI art. Pony Diffusion is a specializeddiffusion model based onStable Diffusion XL that is popular for generating cartoon-style images.[33][34] Pony Diffusion has been cited in academic publications and preprints.[35][36] The use of AI to generate or edit artwork in the fandom is controversial as some believe it takes away jobs of real people, as part of the wider issue of AI in the arts in general. There are also concerns about copyright infringement due to AI web sweeping, meaning that an AI can generate images in the style of real artists. However, some fans see it as another way to explore creativity.
Derpibooru (aportmanteau ofDerpy Hooves and the suffix-booru, a reborrowing from Japanesebōru, meaning "board") is animageboard dedicated to hosting and archivingMy Little Pony fan art. It is the largest and most popularMy Little Pony imageboard.[9][37][38]
DeviantArt has attracted a large community of bronies.[11] By June 2012, DeviantArt hosted more than 500,000 pieces ofFriendship Is Magic artwork.[39] The website is used to publish fan art and fan fiction, rate and comment on others' work, follow exchange gifts with artists, and join user-created groups.[40][38]
According to a 2018 study, bronies owned approximately $1,050 worth of pony merchandise on average; 73% of bronies reported watchingMy Little Pony fan videos almost daily, 12% reported that they frequently created fan art of the show, and 5% reported that they frequently created fan collectible merchandise. The study found that bronies tend to consume fan-created content and fandom news more than they watch the show itself.[6]
As of September 2025[update],Derpibooru hosts over 3.2 million images (excluding deleted and duplicate images) and over 520,000 registered users.[10]
Some fan content has been deemed racist, such as a white ponyoriginal character named "Aryanne" who has aswastika for acutie mark.[37][41][42] During theGeorge Floyd protests,The Atlantic reported that some/mlp/ users mocked the protests by upvoting racist fan art on Derpibooru and downvoting pro-Black Lives Matter artwork. This led to Derpibooru's first major policy change that permitted moderators to ban images uploaded solely to incite controversy.[37][9]
