Friendship is Magic has always been a huge generator of internet memes. Some have broken off from the pony fandom, but most bounce around within, causing all sorts of little nuclear pony reactions that spread it THROUGHOUT THE PONYNET. Few subponycultures are safe when one of these guys takes hold.
We have seen hundreds of these in the last four years, and I'm sure season five will usher in a host of new ones, but until then, lets celebrate what we have run into so far! What memes have driven us to the point of madness as they flood the entire creation side of pony for weeks at a time?
Head on down below for 9 of our top picks for most overwhelming memes for the last 5 seasons! And feel free to catch up on our past few top 9's over here.
Twicane
Did I ever mention that season four was the most ridiculous season ever? After finally having pony episodes again after half a year of nothing and some of the worst drama ever after season three, we were finally back. With worries of Princess Twilight losing some of her Twilightyness, Twicane helped bring on an era of continued slapstick on Equestria's newest princess.
This thing was pretty much everywhere for months. SFM, fan art, music, you name it, Twicane was there. To this day, we still see new characters twicaneafied. Now that is a lasting meme!
20% Cooler
Groan away, I know I do. These days when someone drops the cooler bomb, you know they are either brand new to the pony fandom, or just jumping on the bandwagon and using it to look "in". Hell Hasbro regularly does it.
It wasn't always that way though. When 20% Cooler first appeared back in season one, it literally was "cooler". Dash dropping that line off and sealed her awesome supremacy within the culture of the mane 6. Songs, videos, art, and bronies everywhere were absorbed by it. I'm sure I wasn't the only one with a notification tone on my phone spouting the line off every time something happened.
Chicken Scootaloo
Scootaloo is not amused. A single line way back during Stare Master forever glued her to the concept of chickendom. This one was probably the worst primarily in the comic scene, as endless "Scootaloo is a chicken" jokes became the norm. Thousands were sick of it quickly, but everyone else wouldn't stop! I guess the whole stubby winged pegasus thing doesn't help.
To this day, Scootaloo's chickenyness continues. I think I actually saw a comic a few days ago that pulled a subtle joke about it. We actually saw a slight increase when her inability to fly became apparent last season.
Poor Scootaloo. NO ESCAPE.
Trollestia/Bananas
Princess Celestia is thousands of years old. She has see civilizations rise up and crumble to dust. Her best friends have lived with her for their entire lives, only succumb to the horrors of aging. Her sister is a loose canon that had to be shot to the moon for the sake of saving Equestria. This pony has been through it all.
So can we really blame her when she wants to let off a little bit of steam?
Trollestia's original major arrival was during the scene in A Bird in the Hoof, where she messed with the cakes refilling her tea, but this was just the tip of the iceberg in her apparent master plans throughout the seasons. She has driven poor Twilight Sparkle insane multiple times, even as recently as the Smooze episode, inviting Discord to wreak havoc on our adorkable little protagonist.
There always seems to be some kind of agenda with the leader of Equestria. She likes to pretend to be "challenging" Twilight, but I think she secretly just loves watching her apprentice sweat.
Oh, and bananas.
The Hub Logo
R.I.P. The Hub. Never again will our questionably acquired pony recordings be adorned with that swirly little guy for screencapped ponies to make faces at. The Hub logo lasted three long seasons, and it's placement in the bottom right corner caused so many wonderful situations discovered long after episodes aired.
I almost hope someone edits it over the new Discovery Family thing. That one just doesn't have the same impact. I miss the Hub logo.
Plot
Ponies have butts. Ponies don't have anything covering these butts. Even their tails, which usually cover real ponies butts, are designed to not cover a thing. What happens when you combine this concept with the wonderfully corrupt world of the internet? Do I even need to followup on that?
There are two sides of the fandom in this section. Lets stick with the more "silly butt joke" side. "Plot" has been around since the very beginning, jokingly adorning Google images and meme sites for ages. I doubt we will ever see the end of it.
Not unless ponies start wearing clothing...
Actually that might make it worst.
MOVING ON
Thanks M.A. Larson
If you have ever talked to M.A. Larson at a convention, you've probably realized he's one of the most chill dudes on the planet. Unfortunately, he was tasked with the heavy burden of turning everyone's super relateable nerdy book lover into an alicorn toy-selling princess in 22 minutes! And wow... did the fandom react.
Luckily, the more stable among us realized that this was inevitable and being illegitimately angry at people simply following orders was a waste of time. Instead of attacking, we jokingly batted this line around for a few months. It still drove him nuts, but it was in a good way... I hope.
Gak
GAK GAK GAK
GAK GAK GAK
GAK GAK GAK
It's GAK IN THE DARK
SQUISH GAK
STRETCH GAK
GAK GAK GAK
INTRODUCING THE GAK PUMP
INCREDIBLE GAK
AHHHH
Rainbow Dash's Daring Do Face / Faces in General
Lets be realistic here, there are too many amazing facial expressions in this show just to pick one. So many have turned into full blown memes. I only grab Rainbow Dash here because Fluttershy's Gala face hasn't had time to flood well enough and it's the most recent major one I remember.
I still think this fandom was built on faces. If it weren't for the incredible array of expressions the ponies have, we wouldn't have spread nearly as quickly. If you were around three years ago, you probably remember the absolute deluge if pony avatars people were rockin just about everywhere. You couldn't go to any forum without running into them. It was the greatest infestation to hit world wide web nerd culture... probably ever
And so, we give pony faces a slot. I'm sure you call can pick your favorite from that pile.
Derpy
How could we not include Derpy? If this list had numbers, she would easily take the firsts lot. She'd also absolutely eclipse everything else. We have a lot of background ponies in the show, but none have come anywhere near her incredible influence. From an animation error, to one of the biggest controversies the fandom has ever seen, all the way to a potentially awesome appearence in episode 100... she has been everywhere.
Can we really call her a "meme"? I think she has ascended that. Her wall eyes might still be meme status, but the pony herself is on a whole-nother level.
Celebrate the Derp! She's here to stay!
HONORABLE MENTION/DICTATOR ADDITION
She doesn't trust wheels. Stop trying to send Trixie wheels in the mail =[.
And that about covers it! What meme did you run into over the years that left a lasting impression on you? This list barely scratches the surface, but I suppose we doomed ourselves there with only allowing 9 each!
Head on down to the comments an drop your favorite, or recommend another category. We need more. A little over a week left until episode 100!
