I'm just not sure what to say.

It's funny. I started writing the stories that I've got on here because I was in a bad place in my life and needed a way to vent the problems I was having. A Cry Left Unheard was actually supposed to be a one-shot, with it ending in Fluttershy's death, but as I was writing it, ending it that way seemed wrong, so it just took on from there. Part of what continuing that story has done for me though is get my head in a semi-better place. I realize that Sad/ Depressed Fluttershy and Homo-phobic Applejack tend to be a bit of a commonplace among fanfiction, so that my story may seem a bit cliche because of the niches within the fandom. But what really struck me was the responses that I got from even the rough drafts of chapters that I posted. I mean it was great to read people say things like 'This is good, I can't wait to read what comes next' and 'MOAR', because it meant that people actually enjoyed the things that I had to say, even in a fictitious setting. But the other day I received a that stood out a bit more than the others. The comment said while the person who had read my story hated the stereo types that I had used for Fluttershy and Applejack, they loved the twists within the story that made them more real. They also said that they read the portion of the story that is out 3 times. This just floored me. The fact of the matter is no matter how well received my writing is, I tend to just say that it is everybody being nice. But the idea that someone would like how I've written things so much that they would read it again and again and again, well that really struck me. I'll be the first to admit that my writing is not the top of the top, and I have many many things that I could fix, both in terms of an author and in terms of a person, but I'm getting better, and I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has given me that little bit of motivation to keep moving forward. Because on bad days being able to come home and read not only great stories published by others, but to read the kind words that everyone has said about the portions of stories I've told helps me stand up straighter and keep marching on forward. So, to make a long ramble short, Thank you all from the very bottom of my heart.

-B.L.