by Cecilia Butler

Utter awe and confusion paralyzed my senses. My eyes began to aggressively twitch as my mouth formed a perfect O. It was one of those moments when reality seemed like a dream.

Five men around the age of 30 walked into the Alamo theatre. Each wore a My Little Pony t-shirt.

The idea, to say the least, stunned me. After I did tons of research and even watching a full 30 minute episode of “My Little Pony” let me introduce you to the world of Bronies.

Basically all over America there is a movement involving tons of boys, men, a few girls and six ponies. Excuse me, six animated, talking, singing, problem-solving, value-teaching ponies. The pony fans call themselves “Bronies” (bro + pony = Brony).

Their reasoning for being obsessed with colorful, cartoon ponies is not as creepy as was expected. They simply love the cartoon because of the quality script, cartoons, and voice acting. And of course the message the cartoon portrays, a message presented in the title: “My Little Pony: Friendship is magic.”

They have events, online chat rooms, dances and parties celebrating the show, praising the creator, and mingling with their fellow Bronies.

Now back to the Alamo theatre. As I ripped the ticket stubs for the Pony Praisers, I felt this urge to laugh and make fun. Which is obviously natural when you are surrounded by adults dressed as cartoon ponies. They would try to make casual small talk and I would just stare into their graphic-T displaying a singing pony running beneath a sparkling rainbow. I was probably drooling because I couldn’t keep my mouth closed. It was literal shock.

They were all there for the pre-party of KC film festival premiere of the Bronies documentary titled “Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Fans of My Little Pony.” Around 30 of them waiting in line to talk to the show’s creator.

Unfortunately she had a conflict and could not attend the private pizza party. But nevertheless, the Bronies got to talk to their role model via Skype. They even stood next to the laptop, arm around the screen and smiled for a picture.

After I got over my state of disbelief, I worked up the courage to talk to the Chairman of the Brony Convention, a man who seemed around 20 years old and his friend Squirrel (yes, that is his name and yes, he resembled a squirrel.) Their eyes lit up as they describes the silly characters and the well-planned plot.

“The show’s writing just works with us,” the chairman explained. “It’s not just a show for little girls, it’s a show for families.

The Chairmen and Squirrel are even DJs for a Brony radio station.

I began to realize they aren’t actually bad people. Who cares if they love a children’s cartoon? If a talking pony causes men to value friendship and unite them with a common passion then that’s awesome.

Hey, at least they are interesting.