Brony Coloring Books

In July 2011, artist and filmmaker Garrett Gilchrist, whose DeviantArt name is http://tygerbug.deviantart.com, released an unofficial 84-page My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic coloring book, designed for adult fans of the series but also suitable for the younger fans a coloring book would normally be geared to. His stated goal was not to compete with official Hasbro product, but rather to create a book for older fans that captured the tone of the show, and wasn't "dumbed-down" in any way. Rather, the book would be "dumbed-up." Phoe of Equestria Daily called the project "The single greatest coloring book ever." It has received over 15,000 views on DeviantArt and been mentioned in the Wall Street Journal.

The artwork was entirely original and drawn traditionally on paper. It was traced or referenced from screen grabs from the show itself, giving it an accurate but also handmade feel. The book was centered around a storybook-style retelling of the first episode of the series. Also included were puzzles and games, including a crossword puzzle, word search, word scramble, mazes, and 20 pages of nonogram puzzles, also known as Picross and Paint By Numbers.

In September 2011, Garrett Gilchrist released a second, 74-page My Little Pony Friendship is Magic coloring book as a followup. Not as ambitious a project as the first book, 42 pages of the book were taken up by nonogram puzzles, this time with a much harder difficulty. Notable humans Lauren Faust, Jayson Thiessen, Daniel Ingram and Sethisto also received their own coloring pages. The first 19 pages of the book focused on individual characters and were child-friendly, but later on the book contained some more adult humor (such as profanity).

In October 2011, Garrett Gilchrist released ten more MLP: FIM coloring pages, including one for BroNYCon organizer Purple Tinker. These were comedic in nature, but child friendly. With the ten additional pages, this makes the second book as long as the first.

Gilchrist is also known for his webcomic The Chosen Ones, which has featured pony references and humanized ponies on at least six occasions.