How I Got My Husband Into MLP (And How I Did Too)

So in 2011 I was married, and before I knew it I had moved clear across the country to a completely strange and alien place. I had no friends or family there. Jobs were scarce. I was having a hard time transitioning to say the least.

I spent a lot of time on the internet, and I started coming across all of this pony stuff. Then someone I knew shared the Cupcakes music video, and I became convinced the whole thing was a ridiculous campaign by the internet trolls to perverse an otherwise innocent show. None of it seemed genuine to me. I brought this up with a high school friend of mine back home, and he chose that moment to 'come out of the closet.'

"I'm a brony. I really like the show. It's funny, and uplifting, and the animation is pretty darn good!" (That's not his literal words, but really, it was the gist of it.)

I tried to be diplomatic in voicing my skepticism, but in my head I was thinking:

What a crock of shit.

So he dared me. "Just watch the show. See if you can stop."

"Okay, bro," I said. "Challenge accepted."

Long story short, I became hooked. When I found myself struggling to keep from losing hope in a hostile new environment, MLP kept my spirits up. It was practically the only thing that kept me from collapsing into a heap of tears some days.

Sheepishly, I texted my friend and said, "Uh...yeah. So I've been watching the episodes on repeat. I guess I like My Little Pony?"

"Welcome to the herd," he replied with a smiley face.

My husband saw me watching these shows constantly, and he resisted. Vehemently at first.

"It's a show for little girls," he said with a grimace as he killed people on Space Marine.

Hubby was into the almost hyper-masculine. He liked Chaos Space Marines from Warhammer 40k, and he loved violent 80s action movies, kung fu films, and survival-centered adventure stories. He was also in the Air Force, and so his world was saturated by this kind of masculine bravado that demanded he behave a certain way.

Well, after I caught up with all seasons of MLP on Netflix (just 2 at the time), I decided to watch Season 1 yet again. During the 2nd half of the season premiere, when the girls are trying to find a way to defeat Nightmare Moon, they get stopped by a monster... And my husband just leans over (his computer was right next to the TV) and says in surprise, "Is that a manticore?"

I blinked at him. "Um... I dunno. Is it?"

"Babe, that's a manticore. This show knows about manticores?"

This is coming from a lifelong D&D/Pathfinder fan.

"I guess so," I said with a shrug.

When I start watching "Feeling Pinkie Keen" my husband stops again on the way out the door. "Is that a hydra?"

"Yeah."

"Huh."

Next thing I know, I come home from work to find that my husband has binge-watched all of Season 1. As he pushed play on season 2, he gave me a reluctant grin.

"What?" He said in reply to my silent smirk. "They have cool monsters, and it's funny, and...the animation is good!" Then the grin wiped off of his face. "Don't tell anyone I watch this."

Yeah. So the monsters won over my hubby. Four years later and he's much more comfortable with being a brony these days.