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My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (abbreviated as MLP: FIM ) is an animated children's television series based on the fourth incarnation (also referred to as the fourth generation or "G4" ) of Hasbro's My Little Pony toyline and media franchise. The show follows a studious anthropomorphic unicorn (later an alicorn) pony named Twilight Sparkle (Tara Strong) and her friends Applejack (Ashleigh Ball), Rarity (Tabitha St. Germain), Fluttershy (Andrea Libman), Rainbow Dash (Ball), and Pinkie Pie (Libman), and dragon assistant, Spike (Cathy Weseluck), who travel on adventures and help others around Equestria while working out problems that arise in their own friendships.

The series is animated in Flash, and aired on The Hub (which was renamed Discovery Family on October 13, 2014) from October 10, 2010, to October 12, 2019. Hasbro selected animator Lauren Faust to be the show's creative director and executive producer. Faust sought to challenge the nature of the My Little Pony line, and created more in-depth characters and adventurous settings; she aspired to create a show similar to how she had played with her toys and incorporated many elements of fantasy. Due to hectic production schedules and a lack of creative control, she left the series during season 2.

The series became a major commercial success; it was the highest-rated production in Hub Network's broadcast history. Despite the target demographic of young girls, Friendship Is Magic also gained an unexpectedly large following of older viewers in mid-late 2011, mainly young and middle-aged men, who call themselves "bronies". Additionally, it led to new merchandising opportunities for Hasbro, including games and comics. A spin-off franchise, My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, was launched in 2013, and ran alongside the show for several years. A feature-length film adaptation based on the television series, titled My Little Pony: The Movie, was theatrically released on October 6, 2017, in the United States. My Little Pony: Pony Life, a spin-off reboot series, premiered on Discovery Family on November 7, 2020.

Premise
Twilight Sparkle is guided by her mentor, Princess Celestia, to learn about friendship in the town of Ponyville. Twilight and her dragon assistant Spike become close friends with five other ponies: Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. The ponies represent different facets of friendship with magical artifacts called the "Elements of Harmony". They travel on adventures and help others around Equestria while resolving problems that appear in their own friendships.

Cast and characters

 * Tara Strong as Twilight Sparkle, a socially naïve unicorn who loves to read but initially has difficulty making friends
 * Ashleigh Ball as:
 * Applejack, a diligent Earth pony who owns a farm
 * Rainbow Dash, a egoistical, sporty pegasus
 * Andrea Libman as:
 * Fluttershy, a shy and timid pegasus who loves animals
 * Pinkie Pie, a fun-loving Earth pony who enjoys throwing parties
 * Tabitha St. Germain as Rarity, a glamorous unicorn who owns a clothing store
 * Cathy Weseluck as Spike, a small dragon who is Twilight's assistant

Origin
Hasbro, Inc. produced several incarnations of the My Little Pony franchise, often labeled by collectors as "generations". With many brands, including My Little Pony, Hasbro had used a multigenerational and multiplatform plan as a template. They wanted to retool and update the brand with storytelling. According to Margaret Loesch, CEO of Hub Network, revisiting properties that had worked in the past was an important programming decision, which was somewhat influenced by the opinions of the network's programming executives, several of whom were once fans of such shows. Central themes that Hasbro sought for the show included friendships and working together, factors they determined from market research in how girls played with their toys. Outside help was sought to make the characters and stories.

Animator and writer Lauren Faust approached Hasbro, seeking to develop her girls' toys property "Galaxy Girls" into an animated series. Faust had previously been developing and unsuccessfully pitching animation aimed at girls, as they were considered unsuccessful. When she pitched to Lisa Licht of Hasbro Studios, the latter was not very interested, but she showed Faust one of the company's recent My Little Pony animated works, Princess Promenade, "completely on the fly". Licht considered that Faust's style was well suited to that line, and asked her to consider "some ideas [on] where to take a new version of the franchise".

Faust agreed to take the job as long as she was able to move away from the "silliness of [My Little Pony's] predecessors and their patronizing attitudes towards young girls." She regarded girls' entertainment as too sweet, plain, and obvious which did not fit their intelligence and "talk[ed] down to [them]". My Little Pony was one of her favorite toys and she aspired to create a show which was similar to how she played with them. While Faust was initially unsure what Hasbro's theme of friendship meant, she felt "real friendship", which she encountered during her teenage years, was similar to magic. With the chance to work on My Little Pony, she hoped to show complex emotions as well as a wide range of imagination which are the "essence of childhood".

Using her childhood as a guide, Faust imagined the three different types of ponies—unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies—having different cultures and living in various places. She pictured the unicorns in the mountains, pegasi in the clouds, and earth ponies, similar to real horses, on the ground. Paul Rudish and Martin Ansolobehere, who previously worked with Faust, helped her with the initial development of the locations, colors, and character designs. She credited the idea of pegasi controlling the weather to Rudish. Afterward, many ideas of how the ponies' world was special came to Faust. She imagined the ponies as the stewards of their world who made their weather happen, flowers grow, and animals thrive. The visual collaboration brought a unique style to Friendship Is Magic. Pennsylvania Dutch design, steampunk fantasy art, European fairy tales, and Bavarian folk art served as influences for the original pony world. When designing the settings, she sent photo references to Dave Dunnet: for example, Ponyville was based on German cottages to capture a fairytale quality and incorporated pony elements such as horseshoe-shaped archways, hay bales, and troughs, while Canterlot was based on castles and cathedrals to convey a European feel. Faust stated she preferred Dunnet's first instinct to his later more "cartoony" drawings of Canterlot; subsequently, he went back to the way he first drew the location. Canterlot's position on a mountain and its purple-and-gold palette signified royalty and aspiration. The fantasy genre served as inspiration for many elements of the show that were modified and redesigned to fit the world, story, and target audience.

In 2009, Hasbro approved the show with Faust as Executive Producer and asked her to complete the pitch bible. Within six weeks, she sketched more than 40 pages which rendered "the universe that had existed in her 8-year-old mind." Unlike most girls' shows, in which, according to Faust, the characters have "one archetype" and "the only difference between any of them is this one likes pink and this one likes blue", she insisted on characters with dimension who were different from one another and had their own flaws. Faust aimed for the characters to be "relatable" characters, using "icons of girliness" (such as the waif or the bookworm) to broaden the appeal of the characters for the young female audience. She based many characters of the principal cast on how she had envisioned the original ponies. Applejack was based on the namesake first generation character, the cowgirl; Pinkie Pie on Surprise, the bubbly and enthusiastic one; Rainbow Dash was based on Firefly, the "badass"; Rarity on Sparkler, the fashion artist; Fluttershy on Posey, the kind and shy pony who loved animals; and Twilight on the namesake first generation character. In addition, Faust envisioned them as realistic horses who ate hay, lived in barns, pulled carts, wore saddles, and used their mouths to pick up things—qualities which were formerly avoided. The foundation of the series was created in approximately two years.

Production
Meghan McCarthy joined the writing team following an invitation from Faust. McCarthy had previously been on a hiatus and was struggling to "find the right path" for her career. According to McCarthy, she "jumped at the chance" due to Faust's dedication. Writing began with the premise and "getting a nugget of a story to build upon" at Hasbro. When DHX Media went into the design phase for an episode, scripts were finalized. Each episode also generally includes a moral or life lesson, but these were chosen to "cross a broad spectrum of personal experiences", and not just to suit children. Because intellectual property issues had caused Hasbro to lose some of the rights on the original pony names, the show included a mix of original characters from the toy line and new characters developed for the show.

The DHX Media team went through the storyboard and design process, recorded dialogue, and created a storyboard animatic from the voice recordings. The animators then prepared the key character poses, layout, background art, and other main elements, and sent these versions back to the production team in Los Angeles to be reviewed by Hasbro with suggestions from the writers. Hasbro received handfuls of art, beginning with black-and-white rough drawings, followed by colored and finalized character and prop designs, and then animatics and a rough cut. According to Timothy Packford of DHX Media, storyboarding action scenes was difficult because the stories' important points might be lost; storyboarding and intent needed to be clear. Episodes with large amounts of dialogue can "sort of slog and grind because there's so much talking". A crucial point was to keep the shots interesting and have a good flow of one into another, but action sequences tended to have more cuts than dialogue.

The series was animated using Adobe Flash. According to Animation World Network, the series "embrace[d] rather than f[ou]ght Flash animation's 2D look." For example, the ponies' bodies do not feature shading and their manes lack depth. The ponies' manes and tails are generally fixed shapes, animated by bending and stretching them in curves in three dimensions and giving them a sense of movement without the cost of individual hairs. Hasbro was skeptic the manes would not be decorative enough but Faust eventually convinced them "simple hair [that] moves beautifully" would work. The storyboard artists and animators also needed to fill in background characters for otherwise scripted scenes to populate the world. Filipino studio Top Draw also worked on the animation.

Each of the main characters had expressions and mannerisms distinctive to them as well as general expressions they shared. According the DHX Media team, they "avoid[ed] certain expressions if it [went] outside [the ponies'] personality". The creative team interpreted each character's personality into mannerisms, facial expressions, props, and home environment. For example, Twilight's purple color signifies royalty and mystical awareness, and her hard, angular edges personifies her as a tidy pony. Other examples include Rainbow Dash's rainbow hair representing her ability to cause a Sonic Rainboom; Fluttershy's hair indicating her bounciness, gentleness, and optimism; Applejack's cutie mark symbolising her down-home simplicity; Pinkie Pie's shape being similar to a bubble, balloon, or cloud reflecting her cheerfulness and buoyancy; and Spike's design embodying his difference from the ponies.

After the first season, Faust left the show due to a combination of hectic production schedules and lack of creative control. She stated departing was painful for her since she "poured [her] heart and soul into [Friendship Is Magic]" and "fe[lt] like it was taken away from [her]". According to her husband McCracken, Faust's departure was due to the fact that, as a toy company-driven show, "there were things she wanted to do with that series that she just wasn't able to do", and that there is "still some frustration with" not being able to bring some of her ideas to screen.

Casting and voice acting
The voice casting and production is handled by Voicebox Productions with Terry Klassen as the series' voice director. Tara Strong was given the role of Twilight Sparkle after Faust, who had previously worked with her on The Powerpuff Girls, asked her to help pitch My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic by voicing Twilight, Pinkie Pie and "Applejack or Rainbow Dash". After Faust heard Strong as Twilight, she knew she wanted her to voice the role. When Cathy Weseluck auditioned for Spike, she envisioned him as a baby with a high voice. The director later told her to "boy him up a bit" which "changed everything". The series was recorded in Vancouver. Regarding the songs, the actors received the music before recording and practiced it at their homes. The songs were recorded with the dialogue.

Music
The series' score was composed by William Anderson, and Daniel Ingram composed the songs. The score was composed after the initial animation of the episode and reviewed by Hasbro. Ingram worked alongside Anderson's compositions to create songs that meshed with the background music while filling out the show's fantasy setting. Ingram's songs usually began with a "simple structure" consisting of a piano and the basic melody. The creative team was sent the song and gave input. Non-principal voices and instrumentation were then layered before the lead singer's vocals. Lyrics and overall musical themes were sometimes suggested by the writers; two examples include songs written by Amy Keating Rogers. Music and song composition substantially preceded the broadcast of the episode; for example, songs for the show's third season, which began airing in November 2012, were composed in 2011. Ingram thought the songs from previous shows of My Little Pony were "a little bit dated" and decided to bring more interesting work to the Friendship Is Magic series. Changes included writing songs with more emotional depth than those typical for children's animation that could also be enjoyed outside of the episode. Ingram stated his songs had become "bigger and more epic, more Broadway and more cinematic over time" with Hasbro blessing the effort to try "something groundbreaking for daytime television". The song "The Art of the Dress" in the first-season episode "Suited for Success" was inspired by "Putting it Together" from the musical Sunday in the Park with George, while the first season's finale's song, "At The Gala", was based on Into the Woods. A large musical number in "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000" paid homage to the song "Ya Got Trouble" from The Music Man.

Themes
Central themes of the show include friendships and working together. Faust stated that the deeper message of the series is that friendship means being oneself and acceptance of others. According to Ethan Lewis of Den of Geek, the show often "takes on very morally complicated situations [...] that don't seem to have easy answers as opposed to very cut and dried children's messages." Lewis further stated that the show taught lessons of friendship that some adults would be unable to comprehend. Alana Joli Abott, who is also from Den of Geek, said Friendship Is Magic addresses central problems in the science fiction fandom. She also highlighted celebrating differences, faith, and inclusion as prominent themes.

Writing for Den of Geek, Megan Crouse described the series as serious' fantasy", drawing comparisons to many other works including The Lord of the Rings and The Sword in the Stone. In explanation, she stated Friendship Is Magic consistency and system of magic made it function well as a fantasy story. According to Faust, the entirety of Friendship Is Magic is influenced by mythology and the fantasy genre: the unicorns are part of European mythology and the pegasi are part of Greek mythology, and many of the villains and creatures are also inspired by elements of fantasy.

The series featured story arcs, with several key elements of the series changing, such as Twilight, who spent the first three seasons learning about friendship before being granted wings by Celestia to become an alicorn and a princess in the season 3 finale "Magical Mystery Cure", which was a change the show's staff planned since the beginning of the series. The fourth season had an overarching theme in which the characters collected keys to a locked box throughout the season and opened the box in "Twilight's Kingdom".

Broadcast
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, which was targeted at girls aged 4–7, was one of several animated shows which aired on The Hub, a retooling of Discovery Kids owned by Discovery Communications. The network was rebranded Discovery Family on October 13, 2014. All episodes were 22 minutes in length.

Friendship Is Magic premiered on October 10, 2010. In March 2011, less than two months before the season finale aired, the show was renewed for a second season which was broadcast from September 17, 2011, to April 21, 2012. A month before the previous season's conclusion, the series was renewed for its third season. It premiered on November 10, 2012, and concluded on February 16, 2013. One month later, The Hub renewed the show for a fourth season to air during the 2013–2014 television season. On May 7, 2014, the series was renewed for a fifth season. From August 4 to August 8, 2014, The Hub aired a 50-hour "mare-athon" that featured every episode from the first four seasons of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and specials from the third incarnation of the toyline. The fifth season premiered on April 4, 2015, and concluded November 28, 2015. A month before its prior season's airing, Discovery Family renewed the series for a sixth season, being broadcast from March 26, 2016, to October 22, 2016. The show's sixth season aired from April 15, 2017, to October, 28, 2017. Later, an eighth season was broadcast from March 24, 2018, to October 6, 2018. On March 8, 2019, Discovery Family announced the ninth and final season, which premiered on April 6, 2019. Before the show's finale, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic — A Decade of Pony, a behind-the-scenes view of the making of the series, was aired on October 11, 2019. The 90-minute finale was broadcast on October 12, 2019.

Home media and streaming services
In the United States, episodes of Friendship Is Magic are available for digital download through the iTunes Store. Along with several other Hasbro properties, the show's episodes were added to Netflix on April 1, 2012. In 2015, the series was planned to be dropped from the streaming service along with several other shows. However, Hasbro and Netflix later decided to keep the shows on the latter. A two-episode DVD, "Celebration at Canterlot", was offered to Target stores as an exclusive, packaged with certain toys from the franchise.

Shout! Factory has the DVD publishing rights for the series within Region 1. 23 five-episode DVDs and three six-episode DVDs have been released to date.
 * The first seven seasons of the series have been released in complete DVD box sets.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * The first seven seasons of the series have been released in complete DVD box sets.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * The first seven seasons of the series have been released in complete DVD box sets.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * The first seven seasons of the series have been released in complete DVD box sets.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * The first seven seasons of the series have been released in complete DVD box sets.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * The first seven seasons of the series have been released in complete DVD box sets.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * The first seven seasons of the series have been released in complete DVD box sets.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * The first seven seasons of the series have been released in complete DVD box sets.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * The first seven seasons of the series have been released in complete DVD box sets.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * The first seven seasons of the series have been released in complete DVD box sets.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * The first seven seasons of the series have been released in complete DVD box sets.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * The first seven seasons of the series have been released in complete DVD box sets.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * The first seven seasons of the series have been released in complete DVD box sets.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * The first seven seasons of the series have been released in complete DVD box sets.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.
 * United Kingdom-based Clear Vision has the publishing rights throughout Region 2, including most of Western Europe and the Middle East; however, the company entered administration in December 2013. Madman Entertainment has the license for publishing the series via DVDs and digital downloads in Region 4.

Critical reception
The series has received critical acclaim from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 100% of 10 critics gave the show's first season a positive review, with an average score of 8/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Smart and sweet, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic [sic] proves that children's entertainment can be fun for adults, too."

Critics responded positively to the show's enjoyability for broad audiences. Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club noted its "sheer and utter joyfulness" and lack of cynicism, unlike many other shows that garnered a cult following of parents and adults. She complimented the characters' stylized appearance, the stories' relative complexity for children's television, and the solid jokes which make the show enjoyable for parents as well as children. She gave the series a "B+". Later, Genevieve Koski of The A.V. Club commented that Friendship Is Magic was an example of a show that, while considered "girly", was able to tap into the nerd culture to gain wider acceptance than other comparable forms. Matt Morgan, writing for Wired's "GeekDad" column, praised the show for having "geeky undertones" and being a show which a father and daughter could appreciate together. Los Angeles Times critic Robert Lloyd thought the show was cleverer, livelier, more aesthetic and more futuristic than any of the previous My Little Pony cartoons. He also lauded its ability to appeal to both children and their parents, in that it is "smart and sprightly and well-staged, and never horribly cute".

The show's messages of friendships and morals were well-received. In her review on Common Sense Media, an organization focusing on the parenting aspect of children's media, Emily Ashby gave the show four out of five stars, emphasizing its messages of friendship, tolerance and respect, but advised parents to be wary of the effect it could have on their children's wishes because of its embedded marketing. Liz Ohanesian for L.A. Weekly said that the show's themes of friendship were "absolutely genuine" and that Friendship Is Magic "never takes itself too seriously". The show was critically praised for its humor and moral outlook by Brian Truitt of USA Today. The show's animation style, stories, characterization, and discussions of feminism were also well-received.

Friendship Is Magic was listed as one of the best animated series by websites. It was voted Best Animated Series by readers of Television Without Pity in 2012. TV Guide listed Friendship Is Magic as one of the top sixty animated shows of all time in a September 2013 list. IndieWire ranked the show among the 20 best animated series of the 21st-century in 2019 as well as one of the best animated series of all time in 2020. On January 4, 2021, Anderson Evans from BuzzFeed ranked the show as number 22 (out of 24) in a list of the best animated shows on Netflix. Time Out ranked it at number 24 (out of 35) on a May 2021 list of best kids shows.

The series has also been criticized. Kathleen Richter of Ms. believed that Friendship Is Magic did little to change the nature of older animations for girls, which she considered "so sexist and racist and heteronormative"; for example, she suggested that Rainbow Dash's character promoted the stereotype that "all feminists are angry, tomboyish lesbians". Amid Amidi, writing for Cartoon Brew, was critical of the concept of the show, calling it a sign of "the end of the creator-driven era in TV animation". Amidi's essay expressed concerns that assigning a talent like Faust to a toy-centric show was part of a trend towards a focus on profitable genres of animation, such as toy tie-ins, to deal with a fragmented viewing audience, and overall "an admission of defeat for the entire movement, a white flag-waving moment for the TV animation industry".

Ratings
Friendship Is Magic premiered with an average viewership of 1.4 million per month but expanded to 4 million per month by the end of the first season, making it the highest-rated of any Hasbro offering at the time. Advertising Age reported that the viewership doubled between the first and the second season. According to Vox, its peak years were between 2012 and 2014. In March 2013, The Hub reported the series had seen a triple-digit year-to-year growth in all demographics. In September of the same year, it was the second most-viewed show on The Hub for girls aged 2–11 and women aged 18–49. In the first three months of 2014, the show had an American viewership of over 12 million. Ratings began to decline after 2014.

The show reached many milestones. The Hub Network reported that "Hearts and Hooves Day", which aired on February 11, 2012, was the show's most-viewed episode and the second highest of any program of the Hub network: its viewership exceeded 150% of that of the previous year. It was surpassed by the two-part season two finale, "A Canterlot Wedding", in April 2012, which marked the broadcast as the highest viewership for the Hub Network to that date. The full two-part third-season premiere, "The Crystal Empire", was viewed by 601,000 people aged 2+ and marked the third consecutive year of growth in season premieres. "Magical Mystery Cure", the third-season finale, became the highest-rated telecast for the network for girls aged 2–11. The fifth season premiere, "The Cutie Map", became both the series and Discovery Family's highest-rated premiere in many demographics.

Fandom
Despite Hasbro's target demographic of young girls and their parents, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic has become a cultural and Internet phenomenon, with many male fans between 13 and 35. The response from the Internet has been traced to cartoon and animation fans on the Internet board 4chan, responding to Amidi's negative essay regarding the show and current trends in animation. As a result of the discussion on 4chan, interest in the show spread throughout other parts of the Internet, creating a large fanbase and a multitude of creative works, fan sites, and conventions. The fanbase adopted the name "brony" (a portmanteau of "bro" and "pony") to describe themselves. The older fanbase came as a surprise to Hasbro and staff members involved with the show,   who appreciated and embraced the fandom, adding acknowledgements to the fans within the show and the toys. When the show was first released, bronies were a meme, but their popularity across the internet gradually faded despite the show's continuation. Friendship Is Magic and the bronies have been described as a phenomenon by multiple sources.

Other media
Friendship Is Magic is associated with the 2010 relaunch of My Little Pony toy line, having figurines and playsets based on it. Due in part to the older fans, Hasbro came to see My Little Pony as a "lifestyle" brand, with over 200 licenses in 15 categories of products, including clothing, houseware, and digital media. The brand grossed over US$650 million in retail sales in 2013, and one billion USD annually in retail sales in 2014 and 2016.

Friendship Is Magic offered Hasbro several opportunities for spin-offs and works based on the series. They released games such as Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day, a Gameloft video game and a collectible card game. Beginning in November 2012, IDW Publishing began to print My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic comics monthly. A cross-over comic between Friendship Is Magic and Transformers was released in 2020 and 2021. Hasbro had seen from the brony fandom for the show that some of the art the fans had produced were humanized versions of the show's characters. They took inspiration from that to develop the My Little Pony: Equestria Girls spin-off series of movies and shorts that ran alongside the Friendship Is Magic show for several years. In June 2019, it was announced that a musical adaptation was in the works. A collaboration between Hasbro and Mills Entertainment, it will feature an original story while retaining the core aspects of friendship. It was slated for a March 2020 launch in North America. My Little Pony: The Movie, a theatrical animated film adaptation of the television series, was released on October 6, 2017, in the United States, distributed by Lionsgate and financed by Allspark Pictures. Hasbro and Discovery Family announced a subsequent animated series, My Little Pony: Pony Life. The new series is based on the same characters, with most of the same voice actors returning, but feature a new animation style and focus on more slice of life stories.

Fifth generation
After the show's finale aired, Hasbro began working on a fifth generation which began with a feature film, My Little Pony: A New Generation. Like Friendship Is Magic, it will be set in Equestria, the production team wanting to further explore the lore and worldbuilding established by the fourth generation. However, the fifth generation will be set in after the events of the fourth, focusing on different ponies and unexplored parts of Equestria. For Hasbro, this gave them the opportunity to include Easter eggs to the previous generations. The feature film, as well as a sequel television series, will be released on Netflix.