Tom Gallagher

One Year On The MLP Forums: A Thank You Perspective
Well everypony, it’s my first Forumversary. Woah... Where do I begin? It certainly feels like much longer than a year, in a good way of course. Things definitely felt different a year ago, that’s for sure. At that time, I had been a brony for just under a year, having come out of a pretty low period. It still happens every now and then, but right here and MLP:FiM is always the light on the cloudy day for me. 

I’ve always credited MLP, the Mane Six in particular, for helping me come out the other side of that. Although I always felt close to it from the day I first watched the first episode, from that point I started to say straight out that it was the best thing that ever happened to me and I still very much stand by that. 

Eventually, I started to think of maybe finding a place to speak to other bronies. I was quite pessimistic about doing so because people in school always stereotyped bronies as being middle-aged people who didn’t have any lives and I bought into that at the time. Not to mention, I was hardly sociable either. I wouldn’t have a clue what to say and I was frequently terrified of sharing my opinion and opening up an argument with somepony. I had been on maybe two forums prior to that and I never really felt that I belonged on any of them. This time, I wanted to give it more of a chance and I just wanted to have some friends in my life. 

So I typed up ‘MLP Forums’ and immediately, that exact name popped up. Going into it, I was instantly amazed by the layout. Okay, that’s where you discuss the show. Ooh, there’s a Sugarcube Corner?! There’s some discussions, they’re pretty active. Forum Games? I like the sound of that! Welcome Plaza? That’s where I start then. So I went in and completely opened up. I confessed pretty much everything right there and then... and I completely flubbed the layout. Oopsie. I even threw in the first version of my Pic Collage I had made with me and the Mane Six together. I’m actually quite embarrassed looking back at that post because I may have exaggerated things a teeny bit much. 

Regardless, I was immediately taken aback by the responses I got by the users. I met a huge amount of my forum friends who were there at the time right on that first day. I could tell that most of them were in and around my own age and best of all, they seemed like such genuine, caring and kind people. That... turned out to be the truth. 

The first couple of months I was extremely petrified and nervous and I think it showed looking back. A lot of the time I didn’t really know what to say so I would blurt out something random or say something overly exaggerated. As the months went on, I slowly found my own style and became more comfortable around everypony. I started to centre my posts to make them look nicer, and I came up with the idea of saying good morning and goodnight and then saying something else in the middle of the day. It could be a love letter to my friends or the Mane Six or it could be something cool I found. Right now, I couldn’t be happier with how everything is. I certainly don’t deserve to have 117 followers. 

I remember so many great moments with all the amazing friends I have. I remember when @Midnight Danny and I became very close friends, I remember the wonder when I found out that @DivineQueen1000 loved the Goddesses as much as I loved the Mane Six, I remember when @TheRockARooster was feeling down and we were all there to make them feel better, I remember when @Astral Soul joined and immediately became one of my very closest friends, I remember stumbling across @Samurai Equine’s beautiful post layouts, I remember being astonished with @Sparklefan1234’s signature talents, I remember being devastated when we lost @Bastian and @EpicEnergy, I remember @Pandora and @Platinum Night asking for a hello, I remember having a heart-to-heart with @Windy Breeze, I even remember when I met @Rikifive and @AppleButt on my first day.

I have so many people to thank and that is each and every one of you. You people are absolutely amazing and I am beyond blessed to have all of you in my life. It will take me at least another year to go through all the amazing times we’ve shared and if we can do it all over again, I think we would. You are more powerful than you know, you can raise the sun and the moon if you wanted to! I love you all so much and I don’t think I ever express that enough. You are the best friends one can ever ask for and I love you all forever! 

And finally, one last thank you to the Mane Six themselves, @Fluttershy, @Applejack, @Twilight Sparkle, @Pinkie Pie, @Rarity and @Rainbow Dash!