In the Grim Darkness of the Future, There Are Only Ponies

The internet’s bizarre love affair with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has resulted in more than a few excellent parody mash-ups. These are some of our favorites.

I’m not quite sure how exactly large swaths of the internet whose tastes generally lean more towards Batman and Mass Effect first fell in love with the new My Little Pony series, Friendship is Magic. Did one of them suddenly watch it on a whim and happen to tell his friends that it was actually pretty awesome? Was there a secret Hasbro plot to infiltrate 4chan and spread the seeds of periphery demographic there? The world may never know.

We may not know why this unorthodox affection first began, but it’s not hard to see why it persisted. The show, created by Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends mastermind Lauren Faust, was genuinely good. Yes, it was a show aimed at little kids, but it was well-written, well-acted, and had a bunch of “adult bonuses” for parents watching it with their children (or adult animation fans watching it on their own, said Ms. Faust).

But what may not have been immediately clear is just how eerily suited the show was for mash-ups with other, less cheerful intellectual properties. The internet has juxtaposed Friendship is Magic with everything ranging from Call of Duty: Black Ops to Pinky and the Brain, and these parodies are entirely more entertaining than they ought to be.

The show’s first season wrapped up last Friday, which means that the internet can now enjoy (or suffer, depending) eight pony-free months until season two begins in December. Since we here at The Escapist have a long history of loving us some ponies, we thought we’d do a round-up of all of our favorite My Little Pony mash-ups. You know, for posterity.

To the right here, you see Space Marene, which is – of course – My Little Pony meets Warhammer 40k: Space Marine. We’ve previously written about two of these, but the rest may be new. Even if they aren’t new, they’re bizarrely entertaining – much like the show itself.

Short and sweet, this take on the classic Animaniacs series works eerily well with the ponies in question. Grumpy and intellectual vs. hyperactive and thoroughly crazy – a combination that pleases almost every time.

I really don’t know what it is about the juxtaposition of adorable, colorful ponies and Quentin Tarantino-esque violence that is so appealing. But I’d watch Inglourious Basterds if it were like this.

This mash-up with the Pirates of the Caribbean trailer is fairly well-edited, but it’s mainly worth watching for the bit near the end. I can’t help but wonder why nobody can ever get the expression on the “I owe them all money” line correct. Alas.

It was only a matter of time before one mash-up bonanza met another, older mash-up bonanza – don’t tell me you’ve forgotten all the “This is Sparta!” parodies already. This is admittedly a harder trailer to work with, since the only one speaking for the vast majority of the time is Leonidas, but the creator did his best. It isn’t as good as the Gurren Lagann version, but then again, what is?

If there’s one on this list that you’ve already seen, it’s probably this one – it’s made the rounds around the internet quite a few times by now. It’s also probably the single best one on the list, so that doesn’t hurt. The timing is impeccable, the voices and expressions match perfectly, and the editing is simply brilliant. If you only watch one on this list, make it this one.

There’s a crack in here about members of Anonymous ditching their traditional Guy Fawkes masks for My Little Pony ones. But you know what? It might not actually be out of the question.

This Skyrim parody was excellent the first time we wrote about it, and it hasn’t changed. It also benefits from actually, you know, starring a dragon.

The original Fellowship of the Ring trailer may have been one of the best movie trailers ever created, and this pony-based parody follows suit. The mouth flaps aren’t as well-edited as with some of the others, but it doesn’t make it any less enjoyable – or the casting any less fitting.

It really is amazing how a cheerful character who likes to joke and laugh can instantly become creepy when given the voice of Heath Ledger’s Joker, don’t you think?

As with the Skyrim parody, we’d previously covered this Mass Effect 2/My Little Pony hybrid. It’s also still immensely entertaining – and it reminds you just how fantastic that ME2 trailer really was.

I never ended up seeing the Van Helsing movie. Was it any good? Either way, Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale look surprisingly good in pony form.

Filmmaker Edgar Wright liked this one so much he posted it on his blog. Frankly, I can’t blame him.

I don’t know what it is about Edgar Wright’s movies that meshes so well with My Little Pony. I’m not going to question it.

U.S. Federal law mandates that any popular new show or videogame must at some point receive a crossover with the famous Dead Alewives Dungeons & Dragons skit. Good to see that we’re not missing the mark here.

Anyway, that’s about it for our favorite My Little Pony mash-ups. With the sheer number of parodies out there, we’re bound to have missed some, so please feel free to share them in the comment thread. Enjoy (or despise) your next eight pony-free months, Internet.

And keep the thread drama-free, folks. Banhammers are standing by.