Thank You · 12:31am Sep 13th, 2021
Normally, I write essays about episodes or themes, or characters, but I want to take a moment to reflect upon the phenomenon as a whole. This thing we call My Little Pony - it's bigger than a toy line - bigger than four generations of a corporate franchise - bigger than nine seasons of earth-shattering entertainment.
It's a culture.
For the first couple of years of G4 MLP:FIM, I watched it with my daughter. We would make time for each other every Saturday, and rush to my computer, eager to absorb the latest dose of Equestrian magic.
Eventually, that changed. While my enthusiasm for the pony phenomenon never died, my daughter's did, and that affected my overall ability to connect with the franchise - to engage with Equestria.
To this day, the episodes I shared with my daughter remain my favorites.
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Skip ahead to 2021, and my engagement with the MLP phenomenon.
As many of you already know, after Friendship is Magic ended in 2019, I embarked on a mission to rewatch the entire series, and reflect upon it with the benefit of hindsight. I have released rather a lot of essays since then, and even vowed to compile them into a book, but my momentum for "catching up" stalled somewhere around Season 8.
This is no testament to the quality of the show itself - merely a sign of burnout.
I ended up pausing halfway through the episode where Cozy Glow first showed up - a sort of self-imposed hiatus until the pony-mood struck me again.
Two weeks ago, my house was struck by Hurricane Ida, and I lost most of my material possessions to a flood. My dog and cats survived, and my family remains safe - for which I am extremely grateful - but we are still struggling to rebuild our lives, and still have no hot water.*
UPDATE 9/25: We finally have hot water! 
I put out a call for help on Facebook, FimFic, Tumblr, EqD, and You Tube, and I was met with such a tremendous outpour of support - both financial and emotional - that I was moved to tears.
This fandom has come through for me in ways that I had not thought possible - allowed my family to start to rebuild our lives. It has inspired me both spiritually and creatively.
Like the early episodes that I associate with my daughter, I have come to associate the pony phenomenon itself with the wonderful people in it - strangers who have never looked me in the eye, who nevertheless heard my cry for help and reached out.
Thank you.
The warmth and generosity of those who helped my family in our hour of need has filled my heart with so much pony that I have no outlet for my gratitude. So I just watch MLP in what very little spare time I have.
And in my heart, I thank you.
I have always maintained that the spirit of Equestria lives in us - those who love it - those who live according to its values - those who believe that friendship is magic. But experiencing the generosity and kindness of this fandom first hand (first hoof) is overwhelming. And I lack the words to adequately thank those who have reached out to me in support, so all I can do is give my meager thanks, and plunge myself into Equestria all over again.
Thank you for your help. Thank you for your support. Thank you for demonstrating what an incredible force for good this fandom is and can be.
Just like my daughter enriched the experience of discovering the first few seasons of MLP:FiM, this fandom - this well of love and support and positivity - has not only helped me in the material sense, but filled my heart so full of pony that I have no outlet for it, except to binge My Little Pony anew.
Friendship is Magic
-Sprocket
EDIT: If you missed the original post, I included a Tumblr link below.
Help (Tumblr). For those interested, I am currently [9/30] still fundraising through my PayPal: pineapplefellow@yahoo.com
Happy to help, and glad to hear that we were able to.
Glad to help, Sprocket. Hopefully things there start improving soon. I know it will take time but remember, we’re here for you.
Please take care and stay safe.
I'm sorry, again, that you had to go through the floor -- but I'm glad to hear that, at least, the resulting outpouring of support has so warmed your spirit. I'm likewise glad to hear that things have started improving for you materially -- even if they still have quite some ways to go yet. I hope that that improvement keeps up or picks up, preferably the latter, and that your family are also doing at least alright.
I'm quite glad we've been able to help you when you've needed it. :)
And to those who provided that help: thank you!
I'm always afraid of leaving a comment in response to your most noteworthy blogs. I feel like I need to correlate with the length, or more often, the sheer sincerity with which you speak.
Just skimmed it but its really sweet and we are so lucky we got it
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Please don't be shy about responding. I love comments.
Thanks for being such a good person and fan.
I only just learned of this via EqD's latest infrequent Nightly Round-up. What is the state of the struggle? Do you have hot water yet? Electricity? A roof?
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We do have electricity and a roof, I am grateful to say. A few days ago, we even got a functioning hot water heater as well!
Unfortunately, our basement bedroom is still uninhabitable, and requires rather a lot of work simply to fight the mold from spreading to the rest of the house. I also missed almost three weeks of work in the process of dealing with all that has to be done.
So we are still very much in need, and continue to fundraise through PayPal.
I am overwhelmed with gratitude to everypony who's pitched in so far, and to the fandom's incredible well of emotional support.