The Decline of Old Ponychan (2020-2023)
Introduction
Ponychan, once a vibrant online hub for My Little Pony (MLP) enthusiasts, experienced a significant decline between 2020 and 2023. This period was marked by administrative changes, controversial decisions, and dwindling engagement, culminating in the original .net domain's shutdown. The decline of Old Ponychan was influenced by the actions and philosophy of its final administrator, Toybox, whose tenure oversaw changes that many users felt alienated the remaining community.
Timeline of Key Events
October 5, 2020: Mikie Steps Down
Mikie, the site administrator since 2018, stepped down as admin, likely due to the stress of managing the community. His departure marked the beginning of a shift in site leadership, leading to a period of uncertainty and transition. Mikie had maintained a balance between moderation and user engagement, and his absence left a power vacuum that would soon be filled by Toybox. Toybox's leadership style differed significantly from his predecessor’s, leading to decisions that many users saw as divisive.
November 21, 2020: Toybox Becomes Administrator
Toybox took over as administrator, ushering in a period of significant change. Unlike previous administrators who focused on fostering the community’s growth, Toybox aimed to transition the site away from its MLP roots, a move that alienated long-time users. Engagement slowly began to dwindle as the sense of community eroded. Under his leadership, moderation policies became inconsistent, and the cultural identity of Ponychan shifted in a way that did not resonate with many long-time users.
July/August 2021: Removal of /ef/
One of the most controversial decisions during Toybox's administration was the removal of the /ef/ board, which had long been a space for relaxed discussions and free expression. This board was known for its lenient moderation policies, off-color humor, and spirited discussions that many users enjoyed. In light of this leniency, many of the users who opposed the new administration sought refuge within /ef/.
However, the existence of a place where users could openly challenge the administration was unacceptable to Toybox, and so he sought to strip these users of their refuge by removing /ef/ entirely. The removal of /ef/ was met with immediate backlash, as many users saw it as an attempt to stifle dissent and enforce stricter control over the site's users. The decision was a turning point, as it marked a departure from Ponychan’s historically open culture and further discouraged engagement from users who chafed under Toybox's oversight.
August 25, 2021: Creation of Voidchan
In response to the removal of /ef/, a user known as (Anon/Void)Cat launched Voidchan, a splinter community that sought to provide an alternative space for displaced Ponychan users. The creation of Voidchan marked a significant moment in Ponychan’s decline, as many long-time users migrated to the new platform, further draining Ponychan’s already dwindling activity. While Ponychan had experienced splinter communities in the past, this exodus was particularly damaging due to the already fragile state of the site and highlighted the dissatisfaction of many users with Toybox’s administration.
December 8, 2023: Announcement of Ponychan's Shutdown
The administration announced that Ponychan would shut down within a month, bringing an official end to the site’s long-standing presence in the MLP community. Unlike previous instances where leadership transitions had occurred, Toybox and his inner circle refused to pass the site to interested parties, ensuring that it would not continue under new management. This decision was met with outrage from users who insisted on a transfer according to the long-established tradition. Despite various offers from users willing to take on the financial and technical responsibilities, the administration remained firm in their refusal. This final act cemented the belief that Toybox’s goal was not simply to step down, but to ensure the site's complete demise by providing no viable means for the site's legacy to continue.
Toybox's Administration: A Period of "Managed Decline"
Toybox appeared to view his role as an administrator more as a steward of decline than as a leader striving for revitalization. He had little personal interest in MLP and actively sought to move Ponychan beyond its pony-centric identity. His approach suggested a belief that the site had already run its course, and rather than attempting to rejuvenate it, he focused on maintaining it until its eventual closure.
To this end, he redefined the site’s purpose by suggesting that Ponychan transition into a general fan site, effectively distancing it from its origins. This alienated the core user base, many of whom still identified with the MLP fandom. Secondly, moderation policies became increasingly inconsistent, as Toybox surrounded himself with a circle of close associates who influenced site decisions. Some users were allowed to bypass rules entirely, while others faced disproportionately strict consequences for minor infractions. This perception of favoritism further fractured the community and eroded trust in the administration.
Additionally, much of Ponychan’s engagement was redirected to a private Discord server run by Toybox which served as the de facto Ponychan Discord. Instead of fostering activity on the site itself, the presence of this Discord server encouraged users to participate in this closed environment, which led to further stagnation on the site. It's notable that in the mid 2010s, Ponychan had previously maintained an official Discord server which impacted user activity in exactly this manner, and this previous official Discord was shut down for this same exact reason. Toybox's unofficial private server now served the same purpose and yielded the same results, except that Toybox continued to maintain the server despite its impact to the site. With fewer users actively posting as more individuals communicated via the private Discord, Ponychan gradually became increasingly inactive.
The Shutdown Announcement and the Lies Behind Ponychan's Closure
On December 8, 2023, Toybox and the administration announced that Ponychan would shut down within a month, bringing an official end to the site’s long-standing presence in the MLP community. Unlike the numerous administrative transitions of the past, no effort would be made to pass the site to capable successors or engage with the community about its future. Old Ponychan had been handed off at least five times in the past in what was by this point a long-established precedent and tradition. Instead of following the precedent, Toybox, who had spent years constantly accusing others of seeking power, refused to hand the site over to anyone who was able or willing, choosing instead to take the entire community down with him.
When challenged on not transferring the site, Toybox demanded names of potential successors, but when presented with names of capable stewards, he fabricated reasons to deny each of them based on his personal grievances. The irony of his insistence on maintaining control despite his lack of interest in the site, while simultaneously accusing others of being power hungry, was completely lost on him. In fact, all of the reasons given as justification for the shutdown were proven to be lies.
- Cost concerns – Users were willing to cover costs, but Toybox refused financial assistance while still claiming expenses as a justification.
- Hosting term expiration – Web hosting does not operate on strict annual contracts; it could have been extended while contingencies were explored. Despite this, it was claimed that the end of the hosting term necessitated the shutdown.
- Domain expiration – The impending expiration of the web domain and the cost of renewal, were given as justifications for the shutdown. Aside from the negligible cost concern, which has already been addressed, the domain is still being maintained to this day in a ridiculous attempt to retain exclusive legitimacy for Old Ponychan.
- Developer availability – It was claimed that Zeke, the last remaining developer of Old Ponychan, alone had the expertise to develop the site. It was also claimed that Zeke lacked the time to develop the site, and therefore the site had to be preemptively taken down. In fact, Zeke continued developing the Ponychan source code and repositories long after the shutdown of Old Ponychan, while simultaneously working on his own private clone of Ponychan, demonstrating that Zeke's time was never an issue.
- Technical expertise – It was claimed that no one other than Zeke had the expertise necessary even to maintain Ponychan. In fact, two separate Ponychan instances were created independently, one of which was created by a 16-year-old with no prior experience and without any outside assistance, proving others could certainly manage it.
- Lack of interest – In the very same announcement thread where it was claimed that there was no interest in continuing Ponychan, users were arguing for the continuation of Ponychan. These users were dismissed as power-hungry, even when advocating on behalf of others.
Furthermore, the administration promised to make an archive available post-shutdown, but this promise was also abandoned, leading to the arbitrary erasure of years of history.
The Secret Cabal
As users argued with the administration about the shutdown, a pattern emerged in the argumentation: Toybox deflected criticism while blaming external factors and citing others in the administration to justify the shutdown. Meanwhile, the people being cited by Toybox claimed they had no say in the matter and directed inquiries back to Toybox. This coordinated obfuscation allowed everyone involved to shirk responsibility while simultaneously ignoring any and all legitimate challenges to their claims. As this was pointed out, those who were deflecting to Toybox insisted that there was no coordination occurring behind the scenes. After all, it would surely be absurd if the arbitrary shutdown based on zero input from the community were being orchestrated by some "secret cabal"...
Months after the shutdown, it was revealed that the shutdown had in fact been orchestrated by a secret cabal. This group included Zeke, a developer long focused on his own splinter site of a splinter site with no real attachment to MLP; Mk17, a former moderator who rarely visited; and Starshine, a former moderator absent for years. None of them were active members of the community by this point, yet they deemed themselves fit to decide its fate. They fabricated justifications—insisting no one had the expertise, interest, experience, or ability to run the site—without ever asking members of the community. They preemptively dismissed all potential successors and ensured no transfer would occur.
Toybox, who had long since lost interest in the site, was handed the fabricated justifications by the trio and told to execute the shutdown. But since Toybox lacked sufficient understanding of the justifications he was provided, he parroted what he was told in a nonsensical manner, simultaneously shifting blame onto the others while they in turn pointed back at him. All the while, those responsible behind the scenes feigned ignorance and insisted they had nothing to do with the shutdown, directing any resulting public ire toward Toybox in a cowardly manner and avoiding accountability, while publicly speaking in support of Toybox's nonsensical interpretation of the talking points that they themselves had provided him. Those who had secretly worked toward the shutdown thereby distanced themselves from any possible fallout, feigning helplessness as the community mourned the site’s loss. This deception was meant to ensure that their roles in Ponychan’s destruction remained obscured, protecting their reputations while the site faded into history. It is exactly this sort of elitism and lack of transparency that epitomized Old Ponychan’s decline and culminated in its demise.
Aftermath and Legacy
Despite assurances that an archive of Old Ponychan would be preserved, no public archive was ever made available. Years of community history were lost, further fueling accusations that the shutdown was an act of erasure by those who had long since stopped caring about both the site and ponies in general, rather than out of any sort of necessity. The site’s database and image files were also withheld, preventing any successor from easily rebuilding what was lost. After it became clear that people had the expertise and desire to continue Ponychan, the old administration still spitefully withheld the Old Ponychan database and image files—again, not out of necessity, but to ensure no archive could be independently maintained. Toybox clung to power even in death, and Zeke, to this day, falsely insists the web domain rather than the people who used it was what defined the community. In the end, Toybox, who constantly accused others of seeking power, would rather destroy Ponychan than let someone else fix his mistakes.
While the old domain is gone, Ponychan itself persists in its successor community. The decline of Old Ponychan serves as a cautionary tale about mismanagement, elitism, and the dangers of leadership that prioritizes personal grievances over community preservation. In the end, it was not a lack of interest that killed Old Ponychan, but a deliberate choice by those in power to facilitate its death.
