I know a year doesn't seen like much to the brony veterans out there that have been in the fandom, say, since the beginning. But for me, it has been quite a long journey thus far. The show and its fanbase have opened me to countless things that have made my life a lot better. This is just a little recap of my long journey thus far.

(Note: Okay, I haven't been updating this old thing in a while; so I decided to dust it off with this post. Of course, my cursed procrastination prevailed yet again.

Point is, I'm probably not going to update this thing a lot. Depends, but most likely not.)

Up to the point where I watched the show for the first time, I, like countless other human beings, have had their lives influenced by many, many things. In my case, those are sports, video games and automobiles. But last year, I'd end up adding another thing to the list.

By early 2012, I have been an internet addict, using it the majority of my day. Over time I had become more than acquainted with memes. Constantly, looking over image databases on Memebase and Know Your Meme, I'd occasionally run into an image that included ponies. Now, I eventually recognized them, and saw them as one of those "odd internet fads I'd never get into". But that was going to change, obviously.

Eventually, I'd find out that the images came from a viral show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Of course, my, like other people's initial reactions were something along the lines of "My Little Pony? Popular on the internet? That's weird". And I went through the stages leading up to my failure to resist the urge to not watch it. Pretty much the same old brony conversion story.

For the next few months, I began to see more and more of those mysterious ponies. Then I thought to myself, "Alright, that's enough". I eventually hit up the KYM entry for the show, and, cautiously, read it. I was amazed by the concept, how many people, especially men, could enjoy the show with the MLP label. For whatever reason, I stalked that page for a couple weeks, even though nothing changed. Something in me sparked, I was getting attracted to the essence the show, even from just pictures, gave off. I refused to watch any of it at that point, but that's different.

My friend at school talked to me about the show sometimes, and even urged me to watch it a couple times. He sent me a link with the first episode, and it wasn't until today, one year ago, that I finally watched it. After the episode ended, I had to think and comprehend on what had just happened. I became hooked instantly, and watched all Ponyville Confidential (the latest one at the time).

By then, I already knew there was a big fan support behind the show, and decided to explore the web for other ways I could get my daily dose of pony. My first live episode was MMMystery on the Friendship Express, which I watched on my TV (luckily, I was the only one in the house). Within the next week, I got in to all the popular pony websites, mainly Equestria Daily. It took me a little while to get used to it all; fanfiction, art, role playing, music...but eventually, I was practically opened up to what a full-fledged fandom truly was. See, before that, I had little knowledge of fandoms in general. I mean, I knew there were fan contributions like that out there, I just wasn't as aware as I was when I was exposed to the pony fandom.

The first episode I ever watched on a livestream was A Canterlot Wedding. And I never felt so alive before. Not only because I was still breaking in my new interest for the show, but also for the unspeakable pleasure I got from the fact that I was doing so, with interactions from people all over the world. Something about it (along with that of the show) just made me...happy. And that is when I fully confirmed that I was proud to be a member of the fandom.

Eventually, after wanting to have a pony-themed forum I could post on, I searched "mlp forum" on google. And lo and behold, this place was number one. Of course, I joined on, posted a lot, etc. Not much else to it than that. I have gathered my share of friends from my experience so far on the forums, and couldn't imagine my life as a part of this fandom without it.

Now, a lot has happened since then. I've been more open to sites such as deviantArt and Tumblr. It's opened a new portal for me in life, another way to live it. It had, has, and will always have an unspeakable and undescribable impact on my life. Ever since April 5, 2012, I have thought about ponies at least once every day. And every time I think about this glorious fandom, and how far we've come, I think to myself this:

That this whole fandom is the celebration of freedom of passion, the way that we're all revolutionizing the way the general public sees people like us. It's one big fandom, and I am forever glad to be a part of it's infinitely-sizable mass.

My first whole year as being a part of this fandom has been revolutionary to my life, as was other people's, I presume. I could never go a lifetime without ponies, ever since I discovered them. The infinite power of the essence within something simple as a cartoon show for a children's toy franchise is alone something to talk about for the ages. I'm ecstatic to always see how vastly the fandom improves and grows.

The show, and the fanbase both surprise me to a point where we could change the world in several ways.

Brony, one year and counting,

~NASCARFAN160