Well guys, it's that time of the year again for me. A time of reflecting back on what happened four years ago. It's still hard to believe it's been that long, it seemed just like yesterday I was watching the old S1 episodes and slowly getting into it until that one Sunday night I started from the beginning with the pilots and instantly became hooked. Well I am sure most of you have already heard my story of how I became a brony before so rather than telling the same story again I'll link you to these 2 journal entries that tell it instead. I'm linking 2 cuz one shows images I created back then while the other one links a couple old familiar vids I watched in early 2011 that we all know and love like the Ponycraft 2 trailer.

Three years of being a brony!First off, I apologize because this entry is late.  It was actually on March 6th that I became one but I forgot to make a post on Thursday.
But yes, it has been 3 years since I became a brony.  I started watching the show in February 2011 but it was just a new show that I liked and didn't mind following.  I started out with "Feeling Pinkie Keen" and then "Sonic Rainboom", "Stare Master" and "Show Stoppers" after that and would just wait till the new episode was uploaded to YouTube by MASTERLINKX (cookies for whoever remembers that guy!)  It wasn't until a Sunday night right at the beginning of my spring break when I finally sat down and decided to start watching the episodes from the very beginning.  I watched both the pilot episodes and then I was hooked.  The next 2 days I marathoned episodes 3-14 and then tuned in for "A Dog and Pony Show" that weekend and ever since then it has been nothing but pony pony pony!
The funny thing is that during that spring

Two years of being a bronyWell the day I became a brony was back on the 6th but I was busy preparing for CloudCon and such so I didn't really have the time to blog about it.  Kinda funny though........ around my first brony convention, I was just becoming a brony 2 years ago and little did I ever know that I would be at a CONVENTION for this show 2 years later!
So yeah, it's been 2 years!  I first started watching the show in the middle of February, the 12th to be exact.  I started out with "Feeling Pinkie Keen" and walked away very impressed.  At that time it was just another 'good show' to me though, I hadn't reached the same level of obsession that I have now.  The next weekend I came out online about my love for the show with this poll:  http://aleximusprime.deviantart.com/journal/poll/1828129/  A week later I made my first piece of fanart here with my old Transformers OCs as ponies:

Next was "Sonic Rainboom" and then "Stare Master" and then "Show Stoppers

Now that that's done, let me ramble on and reminisce about these last 4 years...

You know, before I became a brony, I obviously wasn't aware of what would come my way just like most people in this fandom. I am not really sure I'd be where I am today. I mean I'd still be an artist/creator for sure, I had already planned on being one professionally someday. I was mainly into Transformers so I'm sure I would have probably just gone further with the TF fanart and gotten a lot better to a point of going to TF cons and buying more TF toys and customizing them and making comics of them and stuff. I am certain I would have still gotten the same average grades in my last few semesters of college, I put the "pro" in procrastination before I became a brony so that didn't change much. And I'm sure I would also be in the same financial state I am in now with no car, low income and one part-time job.

As awesome as the fandom is, I do sometimes wonder if perhaps things might have been different for me if I hadn't gotten into the show. Different in a good way. Would I have gotten a better job after graduating? Would I have gotten more attention on the internet doing my Transformers artwork? Would I have graduated with a higher GPA thus increasing my chances of getting good job offers? Would I have found a way to make better money and be able to get a car and buy a house and become a successful graphic designer and live the "American dream"? I dunno. I guess it's human nature for us to try to think up our own alternate timelines in our heads and create "what if" scenarios every now and then. Perhaps things would have gotten better for me had I not gotten into this show or if the show had not been made in the first place.

But then I think to myself.........I don't think it would have gotten 'better'. I don't think it would be worse necessarily, but I do think that my becoming a brony has actually made life a lot more enjoyable for me. I know I am not a very lucky person. I am certainly not wealthy, I don't have a lot of money and I'm really in a rush right now to get more so I can pay my taxes and junk, but in all honesty, I don't think that would have changed without ponies. I was like that before MLP came into my life and right now I don't think it is very relevant to this. I have faith that my life will get easier as time goes on and I'll find a way to make a living and get through life without becoming homeless or something. What I think matters more is the whole underlying thought of "friendship".

It might sound cliche at this point, but I have indeed learned that friendship is magic. I did have friends before MLP started, mostly on the internet, but I gained more through this fandom. I am sure that if I stayed in the Transformers fandom I would have gained more friends too, but the thing about the Transformers fandom is that it's based on a franchise about giant robots with big guns that blow eachother apart and make cool action films and shows and stuff. It is great fun and all, but it kinda lacks something that MLPFiM already has: friendship. The very word "Friendship" is part of the title! Therefore I think that's compelled a lot of bronies to try their hardest to actually stay true to the laws of friendship. I know there has been drama in this fandom and some friends have become enemies but it would have been no different in any other fandom, in fact in any other fandom, we'd just like the thing for the thing, we wouldn't really focus on friendship as much. That's why the brony fandom has been such a successful one because we are different people who like a show that no one would expect us to like making us quite a unique fandom, and since the theme of the show is friendship, that's what we strive for.

When I first started watching the show, I just though "wow, cool, another show for me to be into and make some fanart for, yay!" but as time went on, I noticed just how big the fandom really was. There was a fandom I knew of, but I wasn't expecting to come to conventions or make friends with 'horse famous' people or collaborate in fan-projects of various kinds or do any of that. I thought it would just be another cool thing for me to be into and fan-geek about. I actually remember thinking that the show would only last for 3 good seasons and then be done just like that or else end up getting cancelled like Transformers Animated did (my favorite show up until pony took over). Well I certainly was wrong!

Also, I suppose it's just coincidence that the Hub........er, excuse me......Discovery Family, has started re-airing the Season 1 episodes in the last day or two and just in time for the anniversary of my entry into the fandom! I have been watching the episodes on TV and have been getting hit right in the nostalgia feels from it. Rewatching the episodes has really helped me love it more and look back on the good times I had back in early 2011. For anyone who is curious, they are airing them in the morning in the 9-10 AM section for Eastern Standard Time. Check your local listings to see for yourself and I highly encourage you guys to go watch them to jog your memory! If you don't have the channel on your TV, I suggest looking for the eps on DailyMotion, you aren't going to have any luck finding them on YouTube (I can still remember back when you could upload the episodes there and Hasbro wouldn't give a care in the world).

Well I don't think there's really enough time or even space to just tell about all the great things that have happened to me since joining this fandom, but I'd like to take a minute to thank a bunch of people who have inspired me or befriended me as a result:

blackgryphon, PixelKitties, AutoKnight01, ACRacebest, TheRealSaberspark, JanAnimations, EileMonty, SolracNG, DustyPony, DestinyDecade, RedApropos, RusticShine, AnimatedJames, Toxic-Mario, Andreaigaku, TheSassyJessy, EROCKERTORRES, FlufflePuff622, SouthParkTaoist, Mickeymonster, theairevolution, Violet Ridenour, Starbat, WaffleBerry, MandoPony, Sibsy, egophiliac, johnjoseco, MACKINN7, DANMAKUMAN, Hidden-Cat, :devmlpsilverquill:, Makkon, atryl, wildtiel, MGlitch, dustysculptures, CadmiumCrab, adamlhumphreys, Amandkyo-Su, WillDrawForFood1, CaptainPudgeMuffin, Centchi, the CutieArtCrusaders, Daniel-SG, TarriPup, Evil-DeC0Y, IanBallinger, UnseenVision, RLYoshi, all the guys from "Reactions are Magic", the entire staff of the show, and of course.......Lauren Faust herself.

Most of the names are hyperlinked so you all can click on them and go see for yourself how awesome they really are in case there are a few you don't know about yet. Yeah, I really shouldn't have listed them there, I just know I'm forgetting someone very obvious...

Well I guess what I want to say to all you freaking awesome people is, thank you for being my friends and if you haven't met me yet and become my friend, thank you for really standing out to me and inspiring me and amazing me with your talents. You guys are awesome!

I know things in my life could have been different if I didn't find this show and these people.  I probably could have gotten a really decent job or made a lot of money and all that good stuff, but honestly I wouldn't trade all the friendships I've made and the great time I've had in this fandom for the world. With that in mind, let us all remember how lucky we are to be part of this amazing fandom and how it's going to just get better and better every day!

FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC!!!