Meet the Bristol Bronies - the men who love My Little Pony
It's an unlikely fascination, but they love it
Louis Emmanuel
Tristan CorkSenior Reporter
Louis Emanuel meets the Bristol branch of the Bronies - a group of mainly men who love the latest incarnation of My Little Pony - and finds a group of people who can ignore the ridicule and prove that friendship really is magic
They could be any other group of 20-somethings walking around Bristol but if you passed them in the street you might be forgiven for looking twice.
The giveaway is the fact that one of them is proudly wearing his bright pink My Little Pony T-shirt.
The Bristol Bronies are just one branch of a global fan base of mainly adult men who share a strange and unlikely fascination with the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic TV series.
These are clubs for grown-ups celebrating and appreciating the TV and toy franchise normally associated with young girls.
There is nothing sexual about my love for My Little Pony says 'Brony' Sam
When I met up with the group at their weekly meeting, introductions were a little awkward. It was not something I thought about on my way to spend my early Friday evening hanging out with them, but where are you supposed to start?
Sam with his collection of My Little Pony 'Plushies'
Pulling up a seat at the Starbucks where they meet each week, I told Grey, a web developer and the club's organiser, he would have to begin at the very beginning.
Cue a very eager but slightly rushed attempt to frame the whole concept in some sort of context.
It was a brief history which managed to animate the table of 15 or so people, some of whom had barely acknowledged my presence during the introductions.
After the Friendship Is Magic series was launched in 2010 by the creator of Powerpuff Girls, it won over a loyal following of young girls.
Ben Stokes was 'a real hero' say two gay men England cricket star was defending in Bristol street brawl
Marcus with his My Little Pony collection
But, surprisingly, pockets of fans of an older age started to form on the internet – mostly in America.
These groups were made up of mostly men, 18-30 years old and highly computer literate.
The phenomenon of Bronies – a mixture between 'bro' and 'ponies' – was born and it wasn't long until the groups spread via the internet across the world.
At the Bristol club, which has only been running for less than a year, its members – who have all adopted pony names or adapted their own – were all speaking from the same page.
This million-pound collection of film memorabilia collected by nuclear bunker drug gang leader has just been sold by police
The Bristol Bronies
"It's the animation, the artwork, the characters, the music," Alexx, 22, told me, her eyes fixed down at the table where she was doodling.
Spending time with the group before we left the café for a walk around town, it became clear that the fandom is a deeper appreciation for the nuances and subtleties underneath the shiny, sparkly ponies.
The writing has hidden jokes and references to other animations and cult TV shows such as Star Trek.
The group in Bristol and the fanbase around the world are just a tiny branch of a larger networks of groups obsessing over all sorts of weird and wonderful subcultures which barely break into the mainstream.
Hundreds of zombies will invade Bristol today and this is the route they will take
These networks of "obsessives", as one brony put it to me, have only come into being thanks to the internet.
Walking along the river with Bristol brony Grant – or Fluttershy, as I later learned was his pony name – he explained he could see why people thought his hobby is a bit odd.
"It is probably more girly than things I would normally watch but it has good animation, good music and each character has a diverse personality."
The 21-year-old, currently out of work, had talked to me earlier about the abuse the group and its members take online for their interest.
'Gay', 'faggot' and 'paedophile' are names commonly bounded around by largely anonymous bullies, he said.
"It's mainly bad on the internet because that is where people can hide from behind a keyboard and people can't always talk back.
"It has not happened to me or anyone in the group, as far as I know, in real life.
"The only incident in real life were a couple of guys looking at us funny one day outside Subway.
"Usually when we explain what we are all about and why we do it people understand. But we are a big group of people walking through the centre – and you do get looked at."
Abi, 25, one of three transgender members in the 40/50-strong Bristol membership, said it is hard for some people to understand because it is "breaking gender trends".
"Boys aren't supposed to like pink cartoon ponies but this is an all-ages all-gender group. We are very open."
The group often meets to watch new episodes, discuss the most recent ones and even discuss future releases. I asked Abi, who works in retail, why.
A woman threw a poo out of a window on a first date and firefighters had to get involved
"It's like saying, 'why do people watch football together?'"
"This is about sharing the enjoyment and talking about it and spotting things you might not see on your own." Abi has a point.
Alexx, originally from Canada, said she joined the club as she was new to the country and had no one to hang out with – let alone share an interest with.
The internet helped her find and meet up with people with the unlikeliest of hobbies and she is now part of a close group of friends who meet up, she insists, to do more than just talk about My Little Pony. She even has a boyfriend at the group.
Walking to Castle Park in the warm spring sunshine, Grant, who I would say was nervous when we first met but had lost his inhibitions after ten or so minutes, admits: "If it wasn't for the people I have met here, I wouldn't be out and about as much as I am."
Heartbroken man starts playing piano non-stop in College Green Bristol to win back his lost love
He tells me he relates to his pony character because she is also shy.
But, as friends in the group testify, Grant has come out of his shell at the Bristol Bronies.
"He never shuts up now," a female member of the group, who asks not to be named, butts in as he chats away.
She adds: "It's funny how similar our stories all are.
"In fact, it is ironic that people say to us online 'bronies have no lives'. I actually now have more of a social life now than ever before."
* This article was originally published in the Bristol Post on April 9, 2014
* A new documentary to be broadcast on Monday will feature the Severn Bronies. The Inside Out West programme met Sam and Marcus as they look forward to the release of the new movie starring their favourite characters. Inside Out West will be on BBC One on Monday at 7.30pm.