MandoPony

MandoPony is the pseudonym of an American brony musician. The name refers to his favored instrument, the mandolin, but he also plays a variety of other instruments including the guitar and the piano. He became a fan of around July 2011. His first published MLP cover was Winter Wrap Up, posted on YouTube in October 5, 2011. The MandoPony YouTube channel was created a week later.

His pony-related work ranges from acoustic covers, instrumental karaoke pieces and remixes of the show's songs to original music inspired by the show, both vocal and instrumental. MandoPony's output is quite versatile, spanning genres as diverse as dubstep, chiptunes, techno, country, pop, and classical music.

He was one of several brony musicians mentioned specifically by the Friendship is Magic's primary song composer Daniel Ingram during a Skype interview at BroNYcon 2012. He has also collaborated with Michelle Creber, Apple Bloom's voice actress, on two charity covers.

A Long Way from Equestria
In November 2011, MandoPony posted the "demo" of a new song on his YouTube channel. It is purely vocal and acoustic and was reportedly created within a day, as a reaction to encountering "MLP haters" on the internet. A more fully orchestrated version was released two months later, with MandoBrony's vocals accompanied by the British duo AcousticBrony.

The lyrics concern two people, one male, one female, who are ridiculed and put down for attempting to counter the cynicism prevalent in "this world of ours". The refrain states twice that "we're a long way from Equestria" before the speaker defiantly proclaims that he or she won't give up and will try to make the world better and "more like Equestria".