Rainbow Dash AK-47
 
I’m actually not all that put off by bronies—in theory. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that dudes in dresses make up a significant portion of my night-life acquaintances, but the idea of grown men embracing something originally marketed to little girls seems kind of progressive, right? I can’t say I claim to totally understand the appeal (the animation and story line is not to my taste—I’ve tried watching), but from what I’ve seen and read of brony convention footage, it looks like a relatively diverse group. Some are a little ironic about their pony-love, some seem to be into fandom in general and quite a few are open about being on the autism spectrum—I suspect the highly interpersonal plot lines could be reassuring (or even informative) for someone who has trouble reading social cues and interacting with a group. There must be legitimate reasons for My Little Pony’s appeal, even if it leaves me cold, personally.

But to be perfectly honest, once your fandom starts making its way into your armory, my open-mindedness becomes… strained. I mean, it’s creepy, right? They’re guns! Why would you want a My Little Pony gun?!? Guns are absolutely counter-intuitive to the My Little Pony ethos—it’s called “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,” not “My Little Pony: Killing Machines are Pretty Fuckin’ Great!” The most disturbing thing is how many actual people have modded their guns in some way to reflect their fandom. What you see below is only a tiny sample of the Pony-themed firearms I’ve found. Dear god… are the bronies building an army!?! Heaven help us…
 

Little Macintosh .44 Colt Annoconda [sic] (Applejack)
 

Fluttershy SKS
 

Applejack double barrel shotgun

Derpy Hooves MP 18
 

Rainbow Dash FN FAL
 

Rainbow Dash M1911 #1 Springfield Operator
 
More after the jump…
 

 
The Hasbro toy My Little Pony and its associated TV series go back to the 1980s, but it took until 2010 and the premiere of the Hub Network series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic for the brony phenomenon to kick into a whole new gear—and, indeed, enter the vocabulary of non-MLP:FIM fans.

Brony is a portmanteau word combining bro and pony, and while the coinage was originally intended to cover adult males who are fans of the show, the word has since expanded to cover all adult fans of whatever gender. Many who are not so inclined find the concept of bronies well-nigh disturbing—as awesome as the show may be, the obsession has some people worried, including, apparently, whatever company recently fired an MLP:FIM devotee for displaying his fandom just a little bit too openly (i.e. not very much) at the workplace.

Of course bronyism in and of itself is harmless—in the age of the Internet, any excellently produced show will generate the desire to congregate and discuss and worship it, and that includes fare for children.

Last October the Norwegian talk show Sent med Simen Sund (“Late with Simen Sund”) dedicated a segment to the subject, inviting two of the founders of the group Bronies of Norway (932 likes on Facebook as of this writing), Ruben Stølan and Edvin Ellingsen, in to discuss their joint obsession. Sund can hardly prevent a slightly incredulous tone from creeping in—but it’s targeted at six-year-old girls!—but otherwise keeps everything appreciative and respectful. They even connive to get explorer Erling Kagge to try on Edvin’s Rainbow Dash hat.
 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
‘My Little Pony’ characters sing Reggie Watts’ ‘F*ck Sh*t Stack’
My Little Pony crafted as a Queen Alien