One One-Thousandth (An Original Pony Article)

Hello everyone. I promised myself that I would be much more active once season four of MLP got here. Since it’s only a few hours away, I wanted to post this. I was going through some of my earlier pony-related projects and I found this article that I wrote last April. I will be honest and say that I am very proud of this despite it being pretty cheesy. I really hope you guys like this and by all means, let me know what you think of it.

Enjoy! /)
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“Thanks, brony, thanks / Looks like I’ve joined your ranks
I never could repay what you’ve done for me today.”
-Forest Rain, Join The Herd

First and Foremost

I think it’s fair to say that at least one big event, one big “thing”, happens to someone every year that makes those fifty two weeks so memorable. For me, 2011 kept such a tradition going by delivering greatly on the yearly promise. I concluded my grade school career with my long-awaited graduation. I remember holding that diploma in my hand and looking out into the massive crowd of proud parents and family members that populated Dallas Convention Center’s arena. Such a scene convinced me that I had really done something special.

What made it even better was seeing all of my friends that I made throughout my years in school stand up on that stage with me. Each and every one of us sported our maroon and white gowns with pride, knowing that we had come of age and done something worthwhile. I knew that it was going to feel weird never having to go back to high school again, but I welcomed such a big step towards adulthood. We could finally call ourselves Plano Senior High Alumni.

My reward (and early birthday present) for such an accomplishment was a trip to a local anime and pop-culture convention I look forward to yearly: A-Kon 22. It was my third time going to these conventions but actually staying in a nice room at the hotel from start to finish was a first for me. Two friends of mine and I shared a room and had the time of our lives with our other comrades. At that time I was still overjoyed from the hype of graduating the week before and to see so many of my school friends, dressed in cosplays of every sort, made my present all the sweeter. I met some new people and made plenty of great memories with them as we partied our asses off all weekend long.

On the very same day A-Kon ended, I returned home and was blessed with seeing my beloved Dallas Mavericks win the NBA Finals at long last against LeBron James and the favored Miami Heat. All of my Mavs’ past playoff heartbreaks and even our collapse back in the 2006 NBA Finals against the Heat still left a very bitter taste in my mouth. Now it was our turn to shine like galaxies and shut South Beach up! The revenge was nice, yes, but the real prize came from seeing a group I had cared about my entire life silence all the critics that insisted that they couldn’t win it all. Those “one-and-done boys,” as they were called, were now the kings of the basketball world and hoisted the Larry O’Brien trophy high for all the naysayers to see.

That championship took me back to the days of when I first fell in love with that team. It had certainly been a very long time since I was a little eight year old boy who wore an overly sized Michael Finley jersey. And now, after all the “maybe next season” years I had to endure, I was there to see my team reach our dream. The ride they took me on will always have a special place in my heart…and I can’t wait for them to do it again!

No doubt in my mind that it was a summer of pure euphoria I will never forget. After that, though, the rest of 2011 was less than memorable for several reasons. I’ve come to expect these waves of highs and lows every year. It’s not like I ever get blind sighted by bad luck; the blues are a part of life and everyone gets them. You can’t stop sadness from coming and bad things from happening, but it’s all about how one responds to those curveballs life can hurl. Even if it’s something as simple as the hope and happiness that optimism can bring, there is always a way to rise above those blues.

We all need a reason to smile and a certain something that came with 2012 did a masterful job with reminding me how important such a feeling can be. However, this gift was something I never would’ve expected in a thousand years. I didn’t win the lottery or go on some big and luxurious vacation. It was nothing like that. No, I got something that turned out to be just as good if not better: I became a brony.

More Than I Bargained For

I’m willing to bet a very handsome amount of bits that most bronies out there, let’s say eighteen out of every twenty, didn’t ever expect that they would become a part of something like this. It’s not exactly something that makes most adults pop their heads off their pillows and say to themselves, “Gee, I think that today is a great day for me to check out that new My Little Pony show!” I sure as hell didn’t, but looking back on that day when I did decide to pull up episode one on YouTube, that first step, it is without a doubt one of the best decisions I have ever made with my life.

Since joining the herd last year I have come to discover that there is so much more to what bronies are all about than I could have ever imagined beforehand. When I first hopped on board I had little to no idea of just how involved the brony culture was. The content I saw fans put out was unbelievable and most of it still stuns me daily. I have met some of the coolest and the nicest people because of bronydom, sharing everything from hilarious moments to deep and meaningful discussions. This is not just another fandom that comes and goes like a fad. This is a family, and it all has meant so much to me.

This new chapter in my life has taken me on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs that I have no intention of getting off of. Thanks to bronydom, I have learned so much about myself and now see many things in a different light. I’ve also been helped with getting a firm grip on what exactly I want to do with my life. My confidence as a musician has skyrocketed ever since I discovered pony music and I feel that it has pointed me in the right direction.

A lot can happen in a year, and that is pretty much the purpose of this article: Since this is my one year anniversary of joining the herd, I want to take the time to sit down and reflect on things. This is the time when I look back on all the good aspects I’ve seen of the brony community, all the things that I have personally learned, and the memories I have earned with the old and new friendships I have made. But mostly, I want to take the time to thank every single one of you. The brony family welcomed me with open arms and gave me my life back.

Official-Unofficial Numbers

Truth be told, the fact that it’s been a whole year of ponies hasn’t fully sunken in. Sometimes it feels like this has been a part of my life for much longer. I’ve felt so welcomed and accepted by this community that it leads me to believe that this was something I was always meant to be a part of. The only downside to all of my reminiscence is that I can’t remember the exact day when I finally said, “To hell with it; I love ponies!” I must have spent a good week and a half with the idea rolling around in my head before I said yes.

Most of that time is a bit of a blur to me, but I do remember where I was when I came to such a wonderful realization. My friend, Seth, and I admitted to each other how much we loved the show over the wonderful combination of chili-chunked chips and dip, pulled pork sandwiches soaked in honey barbeque sauce, and late night baseball at Buffalo Wild Wings. I cannot for the life of me think of a more manly setting to discuss such a manly topic.

The actual date escapes me but I do remember that we had jumped on board the herd about a week after season two ended. That’s right, Seth and I joined right as the long hiatus for season three began. Because of that I decided to make April 28th, exactly one week after the airing of A Canterlot Wedding, the day I celebrate such an occasion.

What I Didn’t Tell You

The summer of 2011 had me riding high with all the joys it brought, but sadly, like most summers, that time was pretty short lived. In the midst of all of that celebration and fun we were experiencing, I didn’t want to think about some truths that were waiting for me a couple of months down the road. There would come that time whenever many of my school-long friends would have to leave Plano and journey on to different colleges all across the country. I knew it was coming and its countdown was knocking me flat on my ass. Having to say goodbye to people that were bound for places like USC, the University of Washington, and Ohio State was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. All of the years we spent together were destined to only be memories behind me now, and I won’t lie. It really messed me up.

I hated that kind of change because I knew that I wasn’t some straight-A scholar with big university dreams just on the horizon. This was a realization that I wasn’t ready to surrender the thrones we shared as seniors in high school. I felt like a little bird with a busted wing being forced to stay in the nest and watch all of his brothers and sisters soar off towards the setting sun. What was I going to do?

As many people would, I tried to think positively and talk myself through it. It’s true that I did have several of my friends staying with me in Plano to cheer me up, but the void left by the majority of the others was still a slug in the gut. I desperately tried to think of how I could combat my problem and asked my friends for help. We all came to the conclusion that maybe the answer would come from being in my community college the following month. Yeah, I thought. There should be plenty of opportunities to meet people coming out of high school, too! I even suspected that maybe, just maybe, they were going through the same woes I was.

I wish I could say that. However, I learned that the majority of whatever fantasies one may have about what to expect at universities don’t exactly apply to community colleges. Indeed there were several times in school where I’d have to plummet back to the bottom of the food chain as I climbed up from elementary school to middle school and all the way up to senior high, but such a change was only by a couple of years at the absolute most. Community colleges are a whole new ballgame. I was not prepared to be calling mothers and fathers, people way out of my age group, my fellow classmates.

I remember one of my days during math where a woman in class laughed and confessed that she had, “Not set foot in a classroom since 1983.” A good majority of the other students chuckled along with her and talked about how they were in the same situation. They were very nice people, but the difference in our ages was pretty discouraging for what I was looking for. Most of my remaining friends went to another local community college, so I rarely got to see them. At my new school I felt very out of place and alone again.

Friends and school weren’t my only issues either. That was a time in my life where I was starting to get pressured from all sides to hurry up and decide what I wanted to do with my life. Making a long-term plan for life is important, but it isn’t right to force that on someone right after high school’s dethroning. That is a very big decision with an intimidating time stamp to put on anybody. Everyone has a meaningful passion that gives them purpose and life is what decides when you’re ready for it to be awoken. After all, ponies don’t get their cutie marks when they want them to appear. Life decides when they’re ready. Just ask Applebloom…

I had a very good feeling about what I wanted to do with my life, but I still hadn’t completely convinced myself that music was what I was meant to do. By that time I had been playing guitar for about six years and drums for almost three. I could play a multitude of songs from the bands I grew up with like Rush, Pink Floyd, and The Who. Playing them for my friends and family was very enjoyable and they gave me plenty of support and cheered me on. It was fun but I still knew that I was missing something, though. It was a key ingredient that every musician must find and nurture: their own style and touch. It’s what makes them unique and mine was nonexistent.

I could go dig up some of my old school spirals that are filled with my first attempts at lyrics. On nearly every page you would find massive scribbles covering them as my frustrations blew up all over the paper. I wasn’t happy with anything I wrote and gave up on nearly every song idea I tried to develop. Nothing felt right nor did I believe they were any good.

The music itself didn’t fare much better. I could come up with a riff or a lick here and there that I liked, but I struggled greatly with applying it to anything. There was no way I’d be able to extend just a few notes grouped together into a full length song. I didn’t have that kind of confidence and was terrified of taking a decent idea and absolutely bombing it.

It was quite a pile up that made me slip into a bit of a depression that lasted several months. When I first graduated I could look up at the high school diploma that perched on top of my bookshelf and smile with great pride. But now…? Now I could only sigh at what it started to remind me of: the simple life filled with friendships and an identity that I used to have. I missed it badly. These changes scared me and I was starting to question who I really was.

Dear Princess Celestia…

As I said earlier I discovered bronydom in April (a few months into that depression). It took some time getting used to because I wasn’t exactly sure how to approach it. The show did surprise the hell out of me, but at first, I didn’t really think a whole lot of it. I acknowledged that it was very well written, but I failed to see it as anything that really stood out. Great shows and movies come out all the time, but how often does their impact last? It took My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic a little bit before something really clicked with me. When it did, though, it was one of the best feelings I had experienced in a very long time; it became way more than just another show on TV that made me laugh.

Remember the painter named Bob Ross? I watched his show The Joy of Painting several times and while he was painting a happy little cloud, he said something that really stuck with me: “We spend so much of our lives looking at things, but never actually seeing things.” I think the very same principle applies here. That’s when I learned that one of the things that made Friendship Is Magic so great was how there were a plethora of different things about it that appealed to all walks of life. You had people loving the show for the characters, the animation, the music, the lessons, and everything else in between. One by one I started to greatly appreciate each aspect and when I saw them coming together instead of looking at them come together, I realized I was watching one of the best shows I had ever seen, cartoon or no.

But it didn’t stop there. It wasn’t long before I looked into the fandom and the community that drove the show’s success. What I found blew my mind. I’m no stranger to what fans can do on the internet with something, but to see the brony content excel in both quantity and quality was unreal to me. All the incredible art, stories, and especially the music I found left me flabbergasted. To see how much work and creativity fans put into developing their own culture that revolves around a children’s television show really spoke to me.

It didn’t take very long for something else to separate My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic from other shows I watched and made it even more special to me. There are plenty of shows and movies out there than can entertain me and make me laugh a lot, but very rarely will I walk away with something afterwards that stays with me. This show and community have taught me so much this past year. I never would’ve guessed that I would actually learn valuable things from a show like this, but it feels great that I do.

The meanings behind elements like loyalty, kindness, and honesty were amplified in the show and made me feel good when I held true to them outside of the living room. The uniqueness of every member of the mane six inspired me to strive to be more like them in one way or another. Whether I’m trying to be more organized like Twilight or as hard working as Applejack, there is always something at least one of the characters reflects that I strive to be more like every day. It’s amazing to me that there are times like this where fictional characters can sometimes be the best teachers. To quote a verse from one of my all-time favorite brony songs by AcoustiMandoBrony:

“Quiet grace surrounds you / And helps me find my own.
I can’t tell you how much you have helped me / And how much I have grown.
Even though you’re far away, inspiration comes from you / To shine a little brighter every day.
If you only knew…
I will never get upset / And I will never, ever forget
The happiness you made me feel / Almost as if you’re actually real.”

If it was just me who took away valuable lessons from the show then I’d be preaching to the deaf, but the brony community always finds a way to remind me that such qualities are being displayed everywhere. I remember a time where I found a story about how this guy’s parents were threatening to kick him out of the house just because he confessed that he was a brony. A little while after he announced his story to some random brony forum on the internet, someone who was in his local area offered a helping hand, saying that he could stay at his house for a few weeks until he worked out the problem. That is the kind of stuff I’m talking about! In this story alone kindness and generosity are being practiced beautifully by a complete stranger whose only similarity with someone down on their luck was the common interest in a simple cartoon. It’s putting your arm around someone in trouble, patting them on the back, and saying, “I got you, man!”

Those are the kind of stories that power my motivation to be kind to everyone, to keep my friends close, to always be there when someone needs that pat on the back, to share what I am given, to do things the right and honorable way, and to always have a reason to smile. I don’t believe for one second, though, that just because I like to follow these ideas, it makes me a better person than anyone else. That is ridiculous! I just believe that doing so has made me a better me.

Finding My Beat

I’ll never forget an early conversation I had with a friend of mine who had already been a pegasister for quite some time before my arrival. That little event is pretty much what began my exploration into the fandom. I had just finished watching an episode on YouTube one night, and afterwards I accidently stumbled across the first fan-made song I had seen from bronies. It was called “At The Gala (20% Cooler)” by SimGretina. I sent it to her, claiming that I was surprised that a fan had actually made a song based off of one of the songs from the show.

She laughed hysterically that I was unaware of the billions of other fan-made songs that stood right behind it. After my little spatter of ignorance, she flooded my Steam account with link after link to all of these big brony songs that I needed to hear. I can’t thank her enough for educating me.Now I have over three hundred brony songs on my iPod and that number rises constantly.

I quickly became a huge fan of names like WoodenToaster, DJ Alex S, MicTheMicrophone, AcousticBrony, and hundreds of other greats that impress me constantly. I listen to their music all the time and it always cheers me up that such talent continues to drive us forward.

My personal favorite, though, has become quite a musical influence of mine: MandoPony. His songs really speak to me with phenomenal music, a wonderful singing voice, and lyrics that can give me chills with their powerful meanings. He became a big inspiration of mine and I ultimately have him to thank for getting me started with writing pony music.

The first video I ever put out was a guitar jam of mine to Smile, Smile, Smile back in December, but the backing track I used was made by Mando. Before I made that video I sent him a YouTube message, asking for his permission to use the backing track, and I got my response the next day. He replied saying that it was more than okay to use it and that he was thrilled his work had such an effect on me. At that point, the message had me smiling ear to ear at this class act, but it was what he added at the end that really encouraged me: “I’m wishing you all the best in your musical endeavors!”

To read that from MandoPony –someone who had become a personal hero of mine– was all I needed to build the courage to burry my past failures in music and try something new. Since then, I have been able to get more and more confident in myself and with the songs I make. It was quite a hassle, but when I wrote my first song, Birds of a Feather, it was a personal victory of mine. To me, that song is special because it was the first thing that ever came from my imagination. It took me seven years, but I finally did it. However, I have to give credit to every single brony musician out there; not just Mando. You all are amazing! Every pony song I hear assists me with learning a little more about my own musical identity that I am developing.

With just my two guitars and an iPad’s camera serving as my current “equipment”, I am nowhere near where I want to be with my pony music right now, but I am still ecstatic that I have been able to vanquish those past demons of not being able to write a song. I am the farthest thing from a person as talented and well-known as MandoPony, but he gave me the pat on the back I needed to pursue my craft, and I hope to improve and polish it with every song I create in the future.

Thank You

The way things have changed in the past twenty-one months is unbelievable to me. I have gone from feeling alone and lacking after high school, to scratching my head in confusion about how grown men and women could enjoy a show like Friendship Is Magic, to demanding that Smile, Smile, Smile be played at my funeral. Despite the ups and downs I have shared with you all this past year, you have shown me nothing be love and acceptance into the brony family.

That’s another one of the huge reasons why I want to keep making pony music. It’s more than just to prove to myself that I can put my own past behind me. I want to give back to the community that has supported me in the short time I’ve been a part of it. I love you all to death and it would take more than just a simple article like this to really display my gratitude.

I would rather not think of where my life would be now if bronydom didn’t pick me up. Because of that, I plan on staying here with you guys until the end of my days. The experience so far has been out of this world! So to both the creators of such a wonderful show and to the fans that make the ride twenty percent cooler, thank you for a magical first year and here’s to hoping for a thousand more! I can’t believe I’m already one one-thousandth of the way to catching up to Luna’s time on the moon.