>>/3422/
> sans Canterlot Avenue, The Roundstable, and that one merch site
which in contrast to the golden era, they have been active and peaked lately. So I suppose that this goes into phoenix cycles about the same thing:MLP. 

> I think Canterlot Avenue would perhaps have a chance if it wasn't for discord 
that app has made a huge impact and cluttered the communities of entertainment. I have to ask if imageboards are dying because of the imageboards themselves (save for video games and politics) or because of a strong competence in terms of communication. 

> The best places here are tiny circle jerks that could gradually or quickly play out.
they could boom for a brief period but that relies more on the franchise than CA´s part despite having a pretty organized site.

> Canterlot's Finest and Las Pegasus Tribune play out from simply there being little need for their existence with EqD in th prime of th fandom. 
I suppose that could be described as a punk movement that quickly fades after a year or two or as counterculture movement that relies completely on EQD´s attitude/activity. Despite having EQD as the main site for the biggest news site of this fanabse, those people have either given up or moved onto something else.

> I suppose there is little room besides the pillers, especially... 
the pillars 
how can you beat /mlp/, EQD, Derpi and Fimfiction? (not sure if DA counts as a pillar)
Sure, Bronibooru delivers a nice SFW gallery that serves as a backup but their confusing shipping rules could prevent them to thrive more than it would. So on that part, beating Derpi is ruled out.

As for /mlp/, /8pone/ has tried to create its own view and while 8chan has risen in popularity because of Gamergate or politics/conspiracies, the pony board has been going down in the list over time. That´s because they had a pessimistic view and their bitterness about not only the board but the show as well,has prevented them to get a different appeal. 

Ironically enough, Ponychan has been silently somewhat active in their own circles without making noise and have kept themselves after all these years despite mocking at them for being dead.

No chance to beat /mlp/ so far.

FimFiction. Well, that speaks for itself. It´s an archive and only its original trunk could compete or coexist with it (Fanfiction). Not only it´s appealing for archiving the fics but also has a blog system like DA and some of the former users of those links show activity on that site.

I suppose that the only way to make a pillar is...well, by reaching the users to consume video game content and there are already sites for that. If they have not occupied a pillar is because of the lack of interest from the community. 

If those main sites have survived is because of pure Darwinism. The first and the most competent one gets the prize to stand out while the others fade.Those sites are pretty competent at what they do and there is little room to find them noticeable flaws.