Whenever people try to say that Friendship is Magic is the first version of My Little Pony to be more then just tea parties and fluff, I just shake my head. If you actually watched the 80s MLP show, you know that it was a strange and often dark show and was rarely fluff. Furniture came to life, revolted and threw out the owners of a house. Female ponies were unnaturally aged while the males all played with things like trains. A prince enslaved some baby ponies. And these are just the ones off the top of my head.
And, of course, the infamous rock band episode…
Q: Did you watch any of My Little Pony prior to Friendship Is Magic? Either as a “real” fan or in a “there’s nothing else on TV and/or I don’t feel like wrestling the remote from my sister” way? — French Guy, via email
A: I only started with Friendship is Magic, but Jen Vaughn — my pony-watchin’ pal who has contributed art to Ask Chris before — is a lifelong fan, and she forced me to watch an episode called “Bright Lights,” where a bunch of creepy-ass ponies were kidnapped and had their life force drained by an energy vampire pony version of Prince named Knight Shade.
This thing was absolutely horrifying. First of all, the animation and voices are not what you’d call “good.” Second of all, this is a show about pony groupies being lured backstage by a shady manager, which, while probably useful advice for the young ladies of the ’80s, is still a little creepy. Third, I am deeply disturbed by the idea of humans and ponies coexisting, especially with no knowledge of why there are only two humans. And finally — and most importantly — it’s yet another example of shameful zebracism.
For the record, there were three humans. Don’t discount Danny! if any of them shouldn’t count as human it’s Molly. She always annoyed the snot out of me.
What episode of the original My Little Pony show was the most disturbing and/or scarred you for life?
