I am more than aware that I have already mentioned it, but the first and foremost factor that lends itself to the genius in brony culture is that of the cooperation and community between bronies. Here's a bit more along those lines:
Another earlier issue that I've covered rather heavily is that of brony hating. Brony legitimacy has never really been threatened by this, but here's a bit of reinforcement:
That's enough on recap- it's time to move on to what this section is really about- the genius of bronies. Bronies are by and large a highly skilled group of individuals, spanning the spectrum of the arts. Likewise, the unskilled are encouraged to develop and practice their own talents via community support and events. The arts are well and alive among bronies, with high quality productions being produced nigh constantly.
There are dozens of crafts employed among bronies- rendering, painting, programming, composition, acting, writing, sewing, business, design, science, rhetoric, the way bronies creative juices are employed are without limit. The amount of fanmade content is unfathomable, with thousands of songs, pictures, videos, etc. There's plays, movies, videogames, podcasts all being designed around the franchise. These large projects are out of the hands of normal chaps, but that doesn't stop them from doing what they can, with the art and music divisions especially vigorous.
The visual arts of static images is probably the second most impressive of brony-based art. These span paintings, sketches, photoshop, and computer images. The styles are likewise diverse, from complex to cartoony, classical in style or flashy. If you couldn't guess, there is going to be less writing on my part and more linking.
Some rather well-detailed pieces
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| Rarity the Magnificent |
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| Steampunk Profile |
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| Luna and Twilight |
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| Derpy War Poster |
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| Caitlyn (from LeagueofLegends) Sketch |
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| Celestia-GLADoS |
Crossovers
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| Cartoony Filly Derpy |
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| Dr. Adorable (Dr. Horrible) |
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| Not authentic, sadly |
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| Ponified GLADoS |
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| Doctor Whooves and the TARDIS |
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| Ponified Zealot |
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| AJ Bucking in Minecraft |
And a bit of Miscellaneous
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| Steampunk Mane 6 |
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| Pinkie Pie Dreams |
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| There's an awesome song to go with this |
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| Seal of Twilight Sparkle |
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| Mane 6 Dias |
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| Fluttershy for Pres |
That's more or less how the rest of this will go. By that I mean a pain to format and ridiculously long.
Moving on, there is the writing that bronies themselves do. I'll admit I do not know much myself in this category- I haven't read many. Regardless, there are quite a few rather well written and extremely popular fanfics. Due to my lack of experience, this list will be short (feel free to add to this in the comments, I'm woefully uninformed in this respect).
I said it would be short. I know there are good ones from word of mouth, but I really don't read many (by which I mean I've read 2). As a warning, however, there are a few fanfics that are remarkably well known, but solely from infamy. The principle one is Cupcakes. Do not let curiosity make you read that. Ever.
Before getting to the big one, I ought to mention all the diverse projects that are being carried out. Here is a brief list of some of the more prominent ones:
My Little Dashie Movie (It is REALLY popular) -in the works (itw)
My Little Musical -(itw) But here's a song from it.
A few videogames:
MLP: Fighting is Magic demo -(itw)
Legend of Celestia (itw)
Pony RPG trailer-(itw)
Equestria Online - MMORPG
MLP The RPG- A role-playing game, like Dungeons and Dragons
Plus plushies, shirts, and a mass of miscellaneous merchandise.
Now comes the crux of all brony creation- the music. There are dozens of highly talented bronies who compose, remix, remix compositions, and sing original songs. This is the most brilliant facets of the fandom, The original works, parodies, remixes, etc are absolutely wonderful. They span the genres- dubstep, techno, rock, classical, country. Some are lyrical, profound, and others emotion-evoking ambiance.
Classical/Orchestral:
One of personal favorites. One of the best bronies in this field is makkon06.
Electronic (Dubstep/Techno/Eurobeat/etc):
OdysseyEurobeat is a pretty important chap. ChainAlgorithm and Foozogz
Rock/Acoustic/Rap/ThingsRemotelySimilar (if you can't tell, I'm not too comfortable identifying these genres):
LivingTombstone, GeneralMumble are big here.
Lyrical:
MandoPony is my favorite in this category.
Even more (YTPMV, misc, etc):
I've been building quite a collection of songs. If you want to see more:
If you couldn't tell, there is just a bit of a bias towards classical/orchestral pieces (as they invaded the other categories).
And this is the end of this compilation- not so much of an argument but an exposition of the skills of others. But the fact remains- the skill of bronies is impeccable and undeniable. And it hasn't avoided notice. Modern media is abuzz with news of bronies- everyone is fascinated/horrified by the phenomena. While a non-biased review is hard to find (I'm looking at you WSJ), it is rather refreshing to take a break from those who basically trash on it without base or rationale (ie they never looked past the cover). Some fair fame has been garnered, however, as bronies received a shoutout on the Colbert Report.
And possibly, the most important shoutout is that of Hasbro. They have officially recognized bronies in their ad campaigns (specifically mentioning them in Equestria Girls), as well as employing the fan-given names for a number of background ponies (most importantly DJ Pon3 and Derpy Hooves). Derpy Hooves, so-named for an animation error that caused her to be cross-eyed, has since been frequently inserted in the background with the "derpy" eyes solely because of her popularity among fans.
Bronyism has come to thrive and propagate, persisting despite negative coverage to make it worth those rare acknowledgments- consistent quality of every art and imagination possible has attracted bronies in and of itself. If nothing else, kudos must be given where it's due, and bronies certainly deserve it considering the wonders they've pulled.
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