How did you first enter the fandom?

[Ziggy and Angelbaby]

Given the serious and forthcoming nature of the OP, I almost feel as though it's inappropriate for me to share my own experience...

...Buuuut, I have this nasty habit of being overly honest whether or not it might be considered appropriate, so here goes:

Well before FIM even aired, I was physically attracted to ponies. And yes: I'm referring to past gen "My Little" ponies. This led to the inevitable realization that I was attracted to women with hooves in general. Though never a card-carrying member of the furry fandom, I did actively pursue and peruse images depicting equine ladies. Here's the creepy grandpa speech: "Back in mah day, we didna have none o' this CLOP jest a bein' thrown at us left an' right. You had to scour the dem intranet for equine pornographa, and ya foun' mebbe one er two pickshers a week!"

Then, one fateful day, I saw (innocent) images of the FIM ponies. And I quickly decided that this was a marked improvement.

I ultimately decided to give the first two episodes of FIM a look-see, and I most definitely had ulterior motives. I was surprised that the ponies all had, quite unmistakably, BUTTS. I was immediately drawn to Rainbow Dash (for a number of reasons), but I didn't especially enjoy the show premiere (I have, in general, disliked the season premieres anyhow).

I stopped watching.

But, for some reason, I changed my desktop to an image of a certain pegasus pony napping adorably on a cloud. And purchased a Funko figure of the same pegasus that I placed atop the entertainment center in (formerly) my room. Something for me to acknowledge and admire from time to time. I later watched Hot Topic's "Hot Minute" featuring that same pony; I wanted to hear her voice. See her move.

I did some reconnaissance prior to joining a Broner forum. Tried to get a feel for how the Broner community regarded people like myself; the popular term seemingly being "cloppers." Apparently, I must be mentally ill and need serious help. But, nonetheless, I needed an excuse to continue watching the series. I had to see more of her.

I joined MLP Forums as the user "PegaMister." I let myself be talked into picking FIM up again (it wasn't at all difficult to convince me), and I began frequenting the Rainbow Dash Fan Club. I ordered the first season of MLP:FIM on DVD (and later the second and third seasons).

There was probably a period of infatuation. A period where the long-developing feelings (which I initially downplayed) were at war with my then quite debilitating obsessive compulsive disorder. It wasn't until I saw "Sonic Rainboom" and was moved emotionally (tears may have been involved) that I started to admit to myself that Rainbow Dash perhaps meant more to me than I had yet realized or acknowledged.

I became very active on MLP Forums and fairly active on a ponylove forum not-to-be-named. I wasn't shy about my attraction to or increasing feelings for Rainbow Dash. I made friends; others of the clopper / ponylover persuasion. x3 I, at least at some point, might have called myself a Brony; though I'm not sure that label ever really fit.

A lot of things happened in a relatively short period of time. Babe came into my life. My feelings became something more than infatuation, and the woman I fell in love with guided me to a better place, emotionally and mentally. I engaged in arguments with detractors on a semi-regular basis; defended ponylovers / cloppers and even Rainbow Dash. Problems with MLP Forums staff and others within the community became increasingly common and caused me anxiety at length. I ultimately came to see Broners in a negative light and separated myself from the label; I no longer interact with the MLP Forums / Broner community at large.

But I have something far more valuable now, and no one can change that or take it away from me. Things had to happen precisely the way that they did, and I can't erase the past without possibly endangering the present. And the present is someplace I'm genuinely happy to be.

I wrote a damned novel. x )

[NightHorse666]

All of this happened during the summer of 2012, when I was on a trip to Maine with my grandparents.

I was really into Happy Tree Friends at the time, and I also wanted to start making AMV's. So I made a youtube channel (xXTheHTFGodXx, if anyone is wondering). After I put out 3 or 4 videos, there were 2 people that subscribed to me (one of which I am very close friends with now).

Back then, I would subscribe to anyone who subscribed to me (I stopped doing that, as there's quite a bit of subscribers now). Anyway, this was when youtube still had the setup where it would show videos that channels you were subscribed to would like/favourite. Those 2 were heavily into the show, so every time I got on there, there would be a pony video of some sort in my feed.

I ignored it for a while, but I got interested by it. One night, at about 4 in the morning, I couldn't seem to fall asleep, so I decided to watch an episode on my phone. First episode I saw was Read It and Weep (Se2Ep16). There wasn't anything that immediately caught me, but there also wasn't anything that I hated. I didn't think too much of it. However, a couple of nights later, I was up again at 4 in the morning, due to my inability to sleep. I found myself wanting to watch it again, so I watched Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 (Se2Ep15). Again, nothing in particular grabbed me and made me love it, but I did want to see more. I then watched either Fall Weather Friends (Se1Ep13), or Party of One (Se1Ep25), I don't recall which. That's when I realised I was hooked.

After that, I just accepted that I was a brony. I didn't really want to admit it, due to one of my friends mocking me for it, but he soon got into the show (although he's an anti-brony now).

Anyway, that's my story. Ironic how a show about viciously maiming animals got me into a show about technicoloured ponies discovering the wonders of friendship.

[amatscintilla]

My girlfriend was a fan of the show from G1 (and in fact still has a large collection of old ponies from her childhood). We saw the toys at McDonald's and she noticed there was a new generation. She was curious, so she asked me to record an episode (I think it was either MMMystery on the Friendship Express or Hurricane Fluttershy) we could watch together (coincidentally, i also recorded the new Strawberry Shortcake cartoon). We watched them both (Strawberry Shortcake was shit, btw), and I can admit now I felt strangely drawn to these brightly colored ponies.

My gf wasn't that into the show, but did love the toys. I'd go with her and we'd go hunting for toys and plushes and other things. I began begging her to come over and watch new episodes as they were recorded, since I felt strange watching it on my own. After all, if I watched them with my girlfriend then I wasn't strange, right?

I became aware of the brony community online and casually watched some PMVs and other online content. It took me about a year to finally admit I was a brony. It was quite a long road lol

And, to OP, I'm glad you found ponies when you did.

[Looking Glass]

As for me, It started with the fan art I seen on some furry boards I frequented at the time, most notably, e621.net. I also noticed this content seemed to have many opinions both good and bad, and many members even started complaining about the art being there. I was never bothered by it, and later, I started looking into it, it was interesting that all this art around MLP, ( and quality work at that!) considering the reputation of the old shows and all this back a forth between bronies and furries, which was how i learned of the show and its fandom in the first place. well, did, more searching, seen info on the show and reviews from people, both enthusiastic and scathing. well, at this point, I had to see what all the fuss was . so, I decided to watch it, the first episode was "Applebuck season", and then, "dragon Quest". I was in stitches by the end, it was very funny and entertaining. so I watched the next episode, "lesson Zero". I knew after that one, I was hooked, plus, it was first time I noticed Her , Twilight Sparkle. she quickly became my favorite, and the more I watched, the more i was intrigued by her. It was after a certain fanfic though, later on, (which this show also got me into) , that I felt a deep connection to her, and not long after that that i fell in love with her.

[Pacifist]

I only got into MLP this year, actually. The first half of 2015.

I was sort of aware of it, since my best friend was a brony before I was. My first exposure was either some porn (Hoof Beats, I believe) or said friend showing me the episode Party of One. I considered it too "cute" for me, but I did see that it was good quality.

Then he let me know that he was writing an MLP fanfic. I decided to give it a read, and I kept on reading it until 1 in the morning or something. I thought it was a really interesting story, and made sure to read it when it updated.

But I still was not a Brony.

He showed me the episode Keep Calm and Flutter On, as it had to do with his fic. Still didn't change my thoughts on the show.

But then...

I learned about Turnabout Storm, the MLP/Phoenix Wright crossover. Granted, I had next to no knowledge of Phoenix Wright, but I was curious, so I watched it.

I absolutely loved it.

And, I found these ponies quite interesting. Eventually, I began watching assorted reactions to episodes of MLP, and I finally started getting into it. I gravitated towards Fluttershy, because I found her adorable.

For the most part, I simply skipped around with the episodes. Season 5 is the first season of the show I'm watching normally. ^_^

I sort of went through stages. First, I was rather reserved about it. I ended up gettig a Fluttershy plushy, then a pack of playing cards I still keep in my jacket's inner pocket.
Then, once I was no longer shy about it, I got a black and silver Fluttershy dogtag necklace that I still wear every day.

As for where Maud comes into play... I grew more fond of her over time. Then, one time I shipped myself with her in jest.

Then I started thinking about it, thinking about her and her personality. And so I fell in love with her.

But I'm rambling at this point. .-.

[whobawhats]

Ahh here's a good thread to rise from the dead.

I had first heard of mlp/bronies at somepoint in late 2010/early 2011, but paid it little mind. Fast forward a few years I started getting to really get back into western animation and since this was one of the shows I heard people talk about the most I figured why not give it a shot? By the time I got to Sonic Rainboom my fate was sealed and I've increasingly gotten more and more involved in the fandom, in one way or another, since.

[Warden]

Some dude on Xbox live in the summer of 2012 was like "yo dude you should check out the new my little pony show they got it's actually pretty good" and I'm like "sounds weird dude" and he's like "nah bro it's legit cool watch one episode at least, it's onNetflix" and I'm like "well alright I'll watch an ep and go to bed"

I watched the whole first season that night and never went to bed.

[Rares]

Back in 2011, I was already an avid fan of the Hub. I really liked Transformers Prime at the time, Dan Vs., and GI Joe Renegades, they were some of my favorite shows on. Over the summer, I ended up finding this.


Which pretty much sealed my fate after I found it amusing. It sparked my interest when I later saw a "Know Your Meme" video on pony.


After which I ended up looking up some pony stuff, and came across:


At that point I just literally forced myself to watch the show just to see more of her.

[Cruuuubs]

I just was really bored and searched for a new cartoon I should watch, and remembered that this thing exists. So I kinda started watching one night, and I didn't really stop until the sun was already up high.
After I finished the show once I looked into the fandom and stuff and realized that I was several years late to the ride, so I spent weeks and months of just researching stuff that happened over the years and digging up old stories, videos, music and all those things, was fun.
I remember that at first I was really into the world and the story behind it, maybe even what the fans created and how this whole thing evolved over time, so that really got me hooked.

[CPsSecretLover]

Mine's a really strange story.

So, sometime in the winter of 2010, I was at my church's youth group hanging out with the normal crew. One of the guys I hung around with at the time was a genius mathematician and a proud member of nerd culture. I mean, dude had NO issues revealing his power level, and oddly enough he was popular with just about everybody at our high school specifically because he was into so many different fandoms. Anyway, he shows up on this night draped in a t-shirt with a My Little Pony character on it (pretty sure it was one of those Twilight Sparkle "We Must Science This At Once" shirts they sell on welovefine).

I ignored the shirt at first, but later in the evening he made some sort of a joke about ponies, and so I finally turned to him and I was like "so you watch My Little Pony?" and he was like "Yep, it has some really good references and humor in it". Needless to say, I thought it was weird on the surface, but deep down I wanted to give the show a go.

Fast forward 3 years to the spring of 2014. I had FINALLY got access to wifi (I grew up in the country, so going to the community college in my hometown and, consequently, moving into town, gave me my first chance to experience internet culture). I had surfed all the websites I knew about, and I was bored out of my mind. Then that night at youth group came back to mind and I thought to myself "I should search MLP on YouTube and give the show a shot". First video I saw was actually Epic Wub Time by Alligator Tub Productions, and I kind of knew then that the fandom was going to be a thing I would be involved in. My first episode was the newly released "Testing, Testing, 1,2,3". I've been a Brony ever since.