The toy/tv show dynamic is different now as compared to what it was when I was a child. As Taffeta mentioned already, most kids just played with their ponies without any influence from media. There was very little 'copying' scenarios from the tv show at that time. I, for example, never did so. We only had tv actually broadcast during certain hours of the day here anyway.
If we wanted villains then there many other toy lines available and that was ok. We also played games with each other based on those themes: cops and robbers is one example and needed no toys at all if there were none available at the time.