Boku no Pony Academia · 5:11am Jan 26th, 2015
First off, an apology for those who are still waiting for an update to Griffon the Brush-off and The Cutie-Marky Tales. Progress is being made, but I've been having trouble just sitting down and focusing on writing. I'll try to make it good enough to be worth the wait when I do get the next chapters posted, though.
As far as the odd title of this post, though, it's because for the past month or so, I've been really, really getting into this manga series, Boku no Hero Academia, where over 80% of the world has developed some type of "Quirk" granting them superpowers, and the ones with the ability and talent to do so go to specialized academies to train to be full-fledged superheroes. It's just so engaging and I absolutely love the characters. I would recommend it to pretty much anyone.
Of course, my mind has a habit of trying to find parallels and connection between different series. (Seriously, I'm not the only one who saw the Legend of Korra series finale and started thinking up scenarios for Korra and Asami's vacation/date in the Spirit World causing them to end up in Equestria, am I?) As such, I started wondering about which MLP characters would fit in the roles of the Hero Academia cast.
Midoriya Izuku: A superhero otaku who was one of the minority to be born with no Quirk of his own, seemingly dashing his dreams of becoming a hero like the ones he admires. But after putting his life on the line to help someone, he gets the attention of the world's greatest hero, All Might, who offers to train him. All Might also empowers Midoriya with his own Quirk, One For All, which is unique in that it's something that can be passed from one person to another. It's too powerful for Midoriya to use without hurting himself, though, so most of the time Midoriya has to use his wits instead. Midoriya's intelligence and ability to apply his freaky knowledge of superheroes and Quirks, combined with his rivalry with the next entry seems like a natural fit for Twilight Sparkle, but I also lean toward another unicorn who is treated in common fan-canon as an otaku of strange and unusual things, Lyra Heartstrings. Alternatively, given that Midoriya starts off being very unsure of himself thanks to a lifetime of being bullied as a Quirkless loser, but still finds the inner strength to protect others when no one else can help, Fluttershy could work as well.
Bakugou Katsuki: An egomaniacal bully with a massive superiority complex thanks to his powerful explosion-based Quirk. Trixie could work here (especially if the explosions became more like fireworks).
Uraraka Ochako: A cute, cheerful girl who occasionally speaks rather bluntly, but is still very nice. She quickly becomes good friends with Midoriya after he saves from harm during the entrance exam, and her Quirk allows her to reduce the gravity of a person or object that she touches to zero. A nice fit for either Pinkie Pie or Derpy.
Iida Tenya: An extremely serious and rigid young man with a speed-based Quirk who comes from a family of high-ranking heroes. He has a very successful older brother that he looks up to, and he strives to give it his all to rise to that level himself. Despite a rocky start, he quickly comes to respect Midoriya as well, and forms a friendship with him and Uraraka. This one, I'm definitely thinking Twilight Sparkle.
Yaoyoruzu Momo: A beautiful girl with an intelligent, perceptive mind. She typically wears revealing outfits that show off her sexy figure because her Quirk allows her to create just about any object that she knows the material properties of, producing it from her own body. She's totally Rarity in terms of physical attractiveness and "eye for detail".
Mineta Minoru: A tiny, cowardly pervert who really only applied to the hero academy for a chance to be around a bunch of girls in tight or skimpy hero outfits. His Quirk allows him to pull sticky balls off of his head, which doesn't seem like much, but despite his faults and low self-confidence, he's occasionally been able to pull through with support from others. Spike.
Asui Tsuyu: A friendly girl with no filter between her brain and her mouth whatsoever. Her Quirk gives her all the powers of a frog, which turns out to be much more useful than it sounds, given that she can leap great distances, crawl along sheer surfaces, has incredible agility in water, and has a tongue that can function like a 20 meter long cable. Like Uraraka, either Pinkie Pie or Derpy would fit her just fine.
All Might: The "symbol of peace" and highest-ranked hero in the world, possessing both incredible strength and a driving passion to protect the innocent. But some time before the story starts, he was wounded so badly by a villain that he can only tap into his full strength for short periods of time, and the rest of the time he's reduced to an emaciated shell of his heroic self. Nevertheless, after seeing Midoriya's drive to protect others, he offers to help the boy become a hero so that Midoriya can become his successor. I'm thinking Princess Celestia, of course.
Aizawa "Eraserhead" Shouta: The main characters' homeroom teacher. In terms of personality, he's pretty much All Might's opposite. Dark, aloof, and more than happy to put the fear of God into any of his students who don't seem to be taking things seriously. He makes sure they all know that he has the power to instantly expel any one of them if he feels that they don't have the potential to be heroes, but when push comes to shove, there is also no doubt that he'll jump in to do the right thing. Princess Luna as a counterpart to All Might's Celestia.
So, that's just a sample of the characters from that manga, and where my mind went. Now that I've put that out there, maybe I can get back to turning my thoughts toward actually writing. 
I agree. I thought:
Izuku: Fluttershy
Bakugou: Sunset
Uraraka: Derpy or Pinkie
Iida: Twilight
Yaoyoruzu: Rarity
Mineta: Spike
Asui: maybe Applejack
Kirishima: Rainbow Dash
All Might: Celestia
Aizawa: Luna
Btw, there's a group now: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/211049/boku-no-pony-academia
4070178
Heh, wow, wasn't expecting to ever see a response to this, and thanks for the invite.
Given how much the manga series has progressed since the original post, I feel inclined to re-think a few entries on that list, and add some more.
Izuku: Twilight, with a focus on her intelligence, leadership ability, and knack for making friends and rivals.
Uraraka: Pinkie Pie, because she's one of the hero's best friends, a source of good cheer, and come on, her cutie mark is balloons.
Iida: Rainbow Dash. With a focus on her speed and drive to live up to the example of someone she looks up to (Spitfire) even when her own natural abilities are amazing, and her competitive nature that lets her be friends with someone even while competing to prove herself. She wouldn't have Iida's 'class rep' attitude, but by this point he's shown that he can be detrimentally emotional and hot-headed when someone he's close to is attacked, which I think suits her well.
Kouda: Fluttershy. Shy, timid, and able to communicate with animals. She'd have to have a more prominent part in the story than Kouda's had so far, though.
Kirishima: Applejack, as a faithful friend and most dependable of ponies with a useful but boring-looking Quirk. I doubt AJ would have Kirishima's complex about it, though.
Yaoyorozu: Still Rarity.
Mineta: Still Spike
Bakugou: Still Trixie
Todoroki: Sunset Shimmer, as someone who has incredible natural ability that overshadows her classmates. In this scenario, her psychological damage would be because she was raised by the setting's version of Endeavor instead of being one of Celestia's former students gone rogue, but would secretly admire Celestia's heroism.
Jirou: Vinyl Scratch gone punk rock!
Kaminari: Derpy
And for villains (pre-redemption for most of them, of course):
All For One: Tirek
Shigaraki: A young, less OP Discord
Kurogiri: Sombra
Stain: Starlight Glimmer
4070178 Just saw the latest chapter, and Fluttershy would definitely have to be Kouda. He's even got a pet bunny!
4071231 I think Rainbow and Applejack should be switched.
Applejack with the huge family of heroes. Also, she's the one who tries to make everyone think straight and keep them under control. Like Iida when they were rescueing Bakugou.
And Kirishima is just as loyal as Rainbow Dash, as he did not hesitate to muster up a plan to get Bakugou back.
4075725 Very good points.