A lot of humans wonder what the difference between ponybros and furries are. This has been a question that (mostly humans and furries) have had since the first human finished the first two episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and became a ponybro. Typically, a furrybro will first see that the pony likes to watch ponies; they will then reason that because the characters in the show are animals that they are furry-lite and then proceed to try to convince the pony that they are are furry, too. While this kind of reasoning may be well-intentioned, with the goal of expanding the ponybro’s horizons, it is fundamentally misguided, as the underlying assumption is that the ponybro is somehow deficient in something because of their interest. At its core, this is little different than the way other humans view ponybros — with many ponybros being especially intuitive about the underlying motivations of others, it’s no wonder that a ponybro would be repelled by a furry who approaches them in this way.
Are there any other reasons why a ponybro would be reluctant to become a furry? Of course, we could talk about the community (online and off), but let’s instead look at the fundamentals and ask: What is the essence of pony? Or, what makes a pony a pony? I believe it begins with their analogous real-life creature, the horse. The horse represents freedom, independence, and self-assurance; they’re also highly empathic creatures. Now take the pony, which is basically a smaller version of a horse, and which is even more empathic. After making the pony little, we have a tiny empathic creature who isn’t afraid to fight for freedom, be independent when necessary, and who is self-assured. The fact that they are little doesn’t make them any less empathetic or self-assured.
The pony, then seems to embody in a corporatized way, what most all religions and philosophies teach — namely, that it doesn’t matter how little you are, what really matters is what kind of person you are. Even though the pony may be little and might not feel like it can make much difference in the world, they’re still a pony. In terms of Christianity, it would mean that despite everything, they are still a follower of Jesus. In terms of Stoicism, it might mean that no matter what, they can still choose to act according to Nature.
Now consider furries. Furries are a large group of all sorts of different animal archetypes. Not all of these animals are particularly empathic. For example, the hyena comes to mind. When I think of a hyena, I think of The Lion King and the hyenas who served (and later turned on) Scar — not an animal I would really want to spend time around. When I think of Lions, I think — “Well, are you a good lion or a bad lion? Are you a lion like Simba or Kiara, or are you a lion like Scar?” When I think of a pony, however, there’s no question that the pony is not good. Almost every pony in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is good — Or, at least the vast majority of them are. When I think of the odds of a random lion being good or bad, if The Lion King is any guide, I would say it’s about 50/50. –not good enough odds for me to want to just walk up to a random lion and try to be friends with them. Aside from this, lions have a predator-like form (because are literally predators) and sharp, biting teeth — even the good lions. This alone would be enough to make some ponybros not want to be around even good lions because just being around them triggers their innate predator-sensing instincts.
Now, not all furry archetypes are of the predator variety. Some are bunnies or other herbivores, but this seems to be the minority. Looking at https://furscience.com/research-findings/fursonas/3-1-species-popularity/, the most popular furry species are: Hybrid, Wolf, Fox, Dog, Big Cat, Dragon …all, with the exception of the ambiguous “hybrid” species (and possibly a tiny minority of dragons), carnivores. It’s only when we get much further down the list that omnivores and then herbivores start becoming more frequent (although there is still a good mix of carnivores even on this side of the chart).
Based on this reasoning, I think it’s pretty clear why many ponybros have zero interest in becoming furries. Ponybros are typically already a minority in their own real life just by being an adult man who watches a cartoon for little girls (I think that’s what boomers still think), so why in Celestia’s name would they want to become an even smaller minority in another subculture? “Pony” doesn’t even the make the list — being beaten out by even “insect.” And “Horse,” many of which are probably of the less empathic variety, sits at less than two percent.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic provides a well-structured world in which ponybros can live out their peaceful pony lives among a species of animals just like them. Celestia raises the sun at dawn and lowers it at night. Luna raises the moon at night, lowering it at dawn. Twilight Sparkle watches over Equestria and makes sure everypony is safe from disharmony and discord. In furry world, however, that structure is more obscure, if not non-existent. (And Zootopia, as neat as it is, is not an MLP:FiM equivalent.)
Of course, that’s not to say that different species of animals can’t get along. And I’m sure there are plenty of carnivores who are vegan. But in relationship to the real world, most humans, I think — aren’t going to want to willingly mentally tax themselves in their fantasy worlds trying to come to terms with all the different species of animals and their different innate habits — in addition to trying to get by in the real world. Pony World is always a nice, safe place where they can relax.
While Hasbro tried to integrate different creatures more into the Equestrian world in the last two Seasons with the founding of Twilight’s school of friendship (and episodes related to it), with Lauren Faust no longer on the show, I’m not sure it was too successful. There’s also the problem of the so-called “Mane 5” being different creatures with actually different DNA — a good idea in theory, but a subject which would have required much more subtlety and nuance to deal with properly than Hasbro was surely capable of treating it with. (I think they just wanted to sell more toys.) It’s difficult to build a fantasy within a fantasy when you fired the creator of the fantasy you’re building the fantasy on six season ago.
Furthermore, as I mentioned briefly earlier, whereas differences between different kinds of humans are essentially contrived, the differences between different kinds of animals have a more innate underpinning. So, what I mean by this is that prey animals (as an example) have an instinct which is triggered in reaction to situations that may be unsafe or predator-type animals and vice-versa (and both types of animals probably have a little of both) — which doesn’t exist with humans (or, maybe it does in a more general way — I would be interested in the theory behind it if anypony could find any research). In fact, there are many furry stories based around this dynamic, usually ending with the prey-type animal and the predator-type animal having sex and living happily ever after — which is great in a fantasy-world where the characters are being used as stand-ins to shed light on real-world prejudices, except that in the real world, if such a relationship were to happen, there would still be the innate biological reaction that the prey-type animal would have to deal with every time it sees the predator-type animal’s sharp teeth and predatorial form.
So, what’s the innate appeal of ponies? Well, first of all, they are prey animals and herbivores. This means that, innately — they must stick together in order to survive, and they don’t see other animals as food. Humans, contrary to popular belief, are also both prey animals and herbivores. When a human sees a pony, what they’re really seeing is what they already are — but which has simply been obscured by consumerist and corporatist culture. The pony form just makes it easier for humans to see themselves in the ponies. The pony hoof, as opposed to human hands, has no fingers or digits, as it were — often used by humans manipulate objects as well as other people. Because ponies have no innate physical ability to manipulate others in this way, the hoof points to the peaceful nature of humans. Hoofs also have a hard outer layer for walking on rough terrain, while just underneath is the soft, squishy interior — a common feature in pony art. Ponies also have sensitive ears to help them more readily spot danger and emote more; humans find this cute because it is an innate part of the pony. But it also makes obvious that aspect of humans. Next, there is the pony tail, which humans used to have before they evolved, which again points back to their peaceful pony nature. Scientifically-speaking, the tail is used for a variety of reasons in pony socialization, including (according to ChatGPT) for fly-swatting & pest defense, communication & emotional signals, balance & body control, and as a health indicator & weather sensitivity. At any rate, humans have a tailbone and are missing a tail. …so, as ponies are prey animals and herbivores, by adding a tail such as at conventions, it can bring out more of the pony inside of a ponybro.
Aside from these more basic aspects, we can look at the character design aspects of the show. Of course, the ponies are well-designed and animated. They have big eyes, which is a common feature in anime — and I think as a style has been just about perfected in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. There’s also the cutiemark aspect of the pony, which is a prominent mark on the pony’s flank which shows everypony in no uncertain terms what their special talent it. Everypony knows everyponyelse’s special talent, and they are all accepted no mater what it happens to be.
The essence of pony is that they are prey animals which socialize in groups to survive against predators and they are herbivores — the same as humans. The show makes these fundamental aspects of humanity, which have been suppressed by the consumerist and corporatist culture and powers — explicit. The well-structured show, good art style and animation, cutiemark concept, as well as the many excellent stories told throughout the series, create a world where humans can feel innately safe and supported. While furries may offer community, what they cannot offer is a well-structured world and an innate feeling of of safety and security. In order for this to begin to be possible, the furry community would have to consist only of prey animals (which is not likely) and herbivores or some other fundamental change in inter-species relations would perhaps have to take place.
If furries wished to try to relate more to ponybros, a good starting point might be to create ambassador groups of prey-animal and herbivore furries, although if this is done deceptively could only make ponybro-furry relations worse. On the other hoof, because the pony makes humanity’s prey-animal instinct and herbivorous nature explicit, it may make more sense for ponybros to go on friendship missions, as Twilight Sparkle and her friends do after Twilight’s castle appears, to furries — in order to convert them into ponies.
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Links:
furscience.com: Species Popularity Chart. https://furscience.com/research-findings/fursonas/3-1-species-popularity/.
Video 1: Aviators – Never Back Down (Feat. d.notive and Yelling at Cats). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTg5G9xLuGs.
Video 2: [PMV] Let The Rainbow Remind You (µThunder Remix). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTfcCfCB90E.