I joined the fandom halfway as a joke in mid-to-late 2012 after finding bronies amusing yet enticing (a way to be into something weird and different on the internet, and being weird and different was always appealing to the punk in me.) I found positive graffiti of Applejack in a bathroom stall at a partially Amish-run gas station on road trip, and thought it was ridiculous yet cool somebody did it. “Fricken bronies, lol” was my response. Anywho over the next few months I got into it ironically as a YouTube pooper and shitposter both on the internet and even a little IRL. I enjoyed watching it confuse my religiously fundamentalist family. When my aunt pointed out she thought I was only doing it ironically I made a point of actually watching the show and saying “oh no I’m a legit fan” just to be a punk again, and found as many ponified Bad Religion and
Green Day covers/parodies as I could and actually found myself legit digging them and the show. ^_^
I Joined derpibooru, uhh, Idk, maybe 5 years ago?
Anywho, I haven’t watched the show in a few years, and I’m probably almost as much of a furry as a brony anymore, but it’s been a wild ride and I ain’t going anywhere. I’ll probably get off my ass and watch some more actual pony at some point.
This fandom helped me stop denying to myself I was gay (actually bisexual or “pansexual” if you wanna be all technical and Tumblr about it.) Also helped me deal with a lot of other bullshit. So yeah, you guys are awesome and happy 9th anniversary of pony my dudes!