Are original pony settings the future of the brony fandom?

[Plonkett 345]

The other day I saw the trailer for Duo Cartoonist's upcoming animation, midnight mares. Unlike their last animation, Children of the Night, this one has nothing to do with MLP, but still has ponies. I think it's come to a point now when original pony settings are becoming more frequent. Another good example would be Eponia on Deviantart.Making such a thing may not be an easy feat, but it's probably the safest way to get by copyright, especially when you already love ponies to begin with.

 

What's even better, you could pretty much get away with making FIM-quality animations based on such settings, as long as it doesn't have anything affiliated with the show, such as the characters. I'm sure people like Jananimations wouldn't have a problem with it, just don't have any of the characters and whatever involved in your animations.