My Little Pony is a line of toys designed for very small children and characterized by colorful pony. They had been launched by Hasbro since 1982. Initially however, pony was not the same in all countries. Hasbro did not export pony products to China and so many countries were licensed.
At the moment there are four generations of My Little Pony:
Generation One - My Little Pony (1982-1992)
The setting of the first generation is known as Dream Valley/Ponyland. In this generation the pony is characterized by a very rounded body, a vaguely anthropomorphic face and very large eyes. To this line were soon added other pony that included winged ponies, Unicorns ponies, Flutter Ponies and Sea Ponies.
Generation Two - Friendship Gardens (1997 - 1999)
In the second generation the pony design was greatly changed; jewel eyes, turning heads, were smaller, slimmer, and longer-legged than their 1982 counterparts. The line was not successful in the U.S. and was discontinued in 1999, although it continued overseas for several years. Since the second generation was more popular in Western Europe, Hasbro continued to produce and sell them in Western Europe after 1998.
Generation Three - Ponyville (2003-2008)
The setting for the third generation pony is Ponyville. The small horses look much like the first generation pony, except for a brilliant or "pearled" body. In 2008, Hasbro decided to drastically reduce the number of characters, leaving only seven pony: Pinkie Pie, Scootaloo, Toola-Roola, Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle, Cheerilee and Starsong.
Generation Four - Friendship is Magic (2010 - )
In the fourth generation pony were introduced by the television series My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic. The protagonists of the series are Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy. The new horses are very distinct from the old ones for their most stylized and "cartoonesque" appearance: a slimmer body and larger eyes. The pony of this generation live in the Equestria kingdom. In Equestria there are several regions and cities, including Ponyville, already introduced in the third generation, where most of the stories in the animated series take place.