Zombie apocalypses have taken over the My Little Pony fandom. Fans have drawn and written stories based around the world of My Little Pony. The horror-side of the fandom had a rise when these stories were posted.
Zombies in Media
Infection is scattered across stories, shows, and movies all over the world. The Walking Dead, The Last of Us, and World Z are a few takes on the genre that is considered mainstream. If a person hears the word zombie, their mind most likely thinks The Walking Dead.
These stories tackle the world in the state of the apacolypse and how it affects human interactions. They vary based off the different rules in each universe, but they each share similar ideas of how a zombie apacolpyse would affect the world.
Zombies, of course, are never called zombies in these medias nor look the same. This is what makes the idea of an infective outbreak so horrifying yet interesting. It adds layers to each world, but also a bit of science and freakish depictions of nature.
This is where the start of infection universes stem from, but not necessarily online horror and previous similar ideas.
Creepypasta: The Start of Online Horror
Creepypasta is defined as horror stories that are spread across the internet. Jeff the Killer or Slenderman are popular original stories in this category. Other stories have originated from books, shows, or movies.
My Little Pony has had its share of horror tales in the past. Rainbow Factory and My Little Amnesia were popular My Little Pony Creepypasta stories.
Rainbow Factory involves the character Rainbowdash using ponies to make rainbows. Unquestionably, it is a gory and edgy tale. The twisted nature combined with the innocent show created a disturbing story. This idea follows through with My Little Amnesia.
My Little Amnesia is a mix between the horror game Amnesia: The Dark Descent and My Little Pony. It doesn’t follow the story of Amnesia, but rather the idea of it. Twilight Sparkle wakes up in a dungeon and is trying to find her friends. She will come across monstrous versions of them over the course of the story.
This genre of tales is gaining in popularity once again as the infection alternate universes spread across feeds on social media.
The Origin of the “Infection AU”
The fandom of My Little Pony was introduced to the infection alternative universe by TikTok creator Osushat. As well as older Creepypasta stories, this alternate universe gave off a disturbing vibe. Their infection Pestraobia gained attention with its creepy pictures.
This inspired other My Little Pony content creators to create their own zombie apocalypse spin on the magical world. My Little Virus, Harmony Syndrome and Fallen Stars Infection are different universes seen on social media by different creators. Each and more have their own unique plot and factors that makes them stand out from each other.
The Everfree Infection
Auggy Dailey has an infected My Little Pony universe titled The Everfree Infection. Before the creation of his AU, Dailey was quarantining for Covid. The inspiration to create his own version dawned on him while quarantined.
“I kind of stumbled on some of the MLP infection videos and thought they were neat, reminded me of the classic MLP fanfics like ‘The Cough,'” Said Dailey.
“When I felt well enough to do some doodling, I decided I wanted to make a creepy animation of an absolutely wrecked horse in the woods. There’s been several nods to how Covid affected the U.S. within the story and a lot of it is just me processing the experience.”
The infection in The Everfree Infection originates from a bug disease. Fluttershy mistakes the twigs coming off of the bug for nettles she needs to make a medicine. With the medicine not working on the mouse she is trying to cure, Fluttershy asks Discord to help. Discord thought he helped, but it resulted in the mouse becoming the first infected and to spread the infection.
The characters begin to spiral as this new problem occurs with no cure. They make settlements to try and combat the disease. Little do they know; the infection is finding new ways to spread.
Dailey draws scenes in the story and posts them. New lore and information revealed through comics.
“I really love the comic with Zecora and Pinkie having tea! It was a great exercise in playing with comic paneling and how you can incorporate the environment into the frames. Weaving in the branches and hiding insects everywhere was really nice,” said Dailey.
“My follow-up [favorite] would likely be the Luna reveal in Moonless. She’s always a delight to draw.”
Harmony Syndrome
Claudia Liu, also known as Crackle Wink, is the creator of Harmony Syndrome. It follows Sunset Shimmer’s notes on the infection, and her work towards a cure. The infection causes ponies to become cannibalistic and fuse with those they’ve consumed. This turns them into amalgams, this universe’s zombies.
The story works backwards in discovering where the infection came from, revealing it is created by Twilight Sparkle. As an alicorn, she is immortal while her friends don’t have that liberty. She takes it into her own hands to try and make them like her, but it fails.
Sunset Shimmer believes the only way to make a cure is through the flowers that bloom on the amalgams after they presumably die. They call them Last Hope Lillies.
The story expands on the lore of the universe in a unique way, and it seems to have more of a happier ending compared to the other infection AUs. Take a look at the magnificent art and story that Crackle Wink created a developed to discover how it could possibly end.
Have they revealed a cure? Will Equestria overcome the fall of the kingdom in Canterlot?
There isn’t a clear ending, but viewers have interpreted different outcomes along with Liu sharing what she believes is the most likely outcome throughout her posts.
My Little Virus
My Little Virus is another infection created by Kaleb Stevens, posting on social media as ghxstispunk. The art is drawn on different setting both from the show and different snapshots of dark and creepy areas.
The infection known as the Decay Virus has inflicted the world of Equestria. Twilight Sparkle is studying to understand and cure the virus. Spike, her dragon companion, is sick with this infection and results in Twilight’s infection. Her friends were unaware of her studies as the virus spreads rapidly.
The infected ponies in this universe become disfigured as they decay and feast off of other ponies like the other alternate universes. Viewers watch the My Little Pony characters discover more about the virus overtime. There are dangerous encounters around every corner.
My Little Virus’s art style makes the story feel like the viewer is playing a visual novel game. The text boxes and design of each character makes the story more thrilling and involves the viewer more in a way.
Other Infections in Other Fandoms?
So, My Little Pony may have been the start of infection AUs, but is it the only fandom? The answer is no!
Other fandoms have also begun creating their own infected content. These include Bluey, Miraculous Ladybug and Pokémon. They each have a similar format to the My Little Pony infection posts. Though, this doesn’t make them not unique.
The Bluey infection story reverts the characters to be more animalistic than having the usual human-like traits. The infection seems similar to rabies in a way. The Pokémon infection seen works similarly to the Bluey infection but making the Pokémon more rabid.
The Miraculous Ladybug infection works similarly to other mainstream zombie-apocalypse media from the posts seen.
There is a creative aspect to these posts that other horror enjoyers can observe. Each post has inspired other creators, which results in the genre of “infection” growing. With this in mind, if you have a strange zombie-apocalypse idea for your fandom, feel free to share and explore it.
