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For me.
Long story short: I became a brony due to my curiosity. The fact my sister want to check this out by watching some episodes. I watched it with her even though I kept my thoughts to myself of how akward it is. But I kept open minded due to the fact of how I use to watch the powerpuf girls.
Ontop of that, this show and the community brought me happyness. :D

My brother, who introduced me to the fandom, was the same way.

He was a Floodian around a year ago, and he started seeing MLP pop up. He thought it was weird, and thought the bronies were freaks. He eventually got himself to watch the first two episodes. He said they were better than he expected, and told the bronies.

They said they were the worst episodes.

He continued watching, and eventually became a brony. Meanwhile, I was still chatting the shit out of the Rift forums, and raiding on that game fairly regularly, when he eventually told me he had become a brony. He had told me about it earlier, but I just blew it off, since there was only like… one brony on the Rift forums.

Needless to say, he strapped me down, Cupcakes-style, and forced me to watch the first season. I had never really disliked bronies, since one of my best friends on the interwebz was the biggest freaking anime fanboy I've ever seen, so most groups of people have good and bad. But I was sold after the first two episodes.

I mean, come on, an evil, corrupted goddess of the night, bent on the death of the main characters and the destruction of the world? This show has more balls than Classic Disney!

Then there's stuff like this:

I mean COME ON!!!!!!!

I believe I've mentioned my brony conversion before, but to reiterate, it went something like this:

OMG, THESE THINGS CALLED MEMES ARE SO COOL!! AND THIS KNOWYOURMEME THING IS AWESOME!!

It's weird though that this "My Little Pony" thing is trending all the time though. It's probably nothing…

le watching Minecraft video

Whoa, wait. That guy has a desktop image with a cartoon horse on it… Could that be… My Little Pony?!

le finally reading MLP entry on KYM

There must be something to this thing though… I should watch it…

ONE SEASON LATER.

ICH BIN EIN BRONY.

The End.

Ah, brony origin stories again. I love these. To anyone who hasn't seen mine yet, I direct you to the original Pony General, page 15. I would copy-paste my story here, but it's quite long and I'd prefer to avoid filling up the page with walls of text.

Engie wrote:

I won’t tell my full-story though, it’s sad to others for some reason.

You sure you don't want to share it? I find these stories are usually pretty interesting, and I'm sure we'll be able to handle it.

Since everyone's in the mood, here's mine – well, the second half of that huge post at least. You'll understand why I'm not reposting it.

I read Black and White and didn't cry.

Lay it on me, broseph.

Time for a story.
The forum I frequented consisted of seven active members. A jolly bunch were we. One fateful day, MegaMonkeyChunk was arrested for illegal firearm possession or something, hundreds of unregistered guns in his house. Next went GingaNinga, deployed to Aphghanistan. Siriusa2 was next to leave for IRL shitskies. After the three main posters went, the site went on a quick downwards spiral and has had no posts for years now. I soon found Memebase, as the remaining members had referenced memes at some points. When KYM appeared on the blue cheeseburger bar, I joined instantly. I looked at most of whatever memes appeared at the top of the page. A pony article appeared, and reading through it I found a link to the full episode (Winter Wrap Up, still my favorite) in which the meme was in. Then I watched every other episode out at the time and followed along with the series until now.

There's my longest post ever. A story of triumph, loss, and dinosaurs.

Daniel went and got himself banned

Hopefully not though.

Bad thing is my friend won't STFU about how he was right and I was wrong.

I don't like being wrong.

Ah, the lovely tales of origins. It felt like just yesterday:

A couple years back, when Discovery Kids was first becoming the Hub, I got confused and saw the first promo for the channel. New Transformers looked cool and Dan Vs looked funny, but then the MLP part came on and I felt something surged. It's what probably kick-start my interest in Applejack as well, but i didn't know at the time shrugged off my interest. I knew something was going to happen, but I had homework to do and things to draw. Fast forward a year later and it seemed the internet exploded with ponies. I had an open mind and though I might as well look at show so I would be behind in web knowledge. I was instantly sucked in the show and after a week or so, I became a brony. I knew the show would do something, but I didn't think it'd be such an impact.

It also might have helped my drawing skills, but that's a different story…

Since you guys are telling your brony story.I'm gonna reveal mine.It took me 5 month before I officially became a brony (yea it was long).

Part 1 of 2

It was dark time.It was a time when I was ignorant of good thing.I was the kind of guy who was always angry (& sad).It was when I wasn't an internet guy.

Ok here we go:
My first encounter with a brony go back to May 2011.It was a classmate who knew a lot about actual thing.I was discussing with him on many different topic everyday.One day,he approached me and he said that he was a brony.So I replied «What's a brony ?».Then he explained to me it was A male who watch and enjoy MLP.My reaction was «Are you fucking kidding me ?do you know that you watch a show based on a girly toys».Forgive me for how I was stupid at this moment.

Then,the Summer came (A long and depressive summer).I forget about the existence of the show (and everything else).Everything was grey.I went through a state of «Lack of interest about everything».I was questionning a lot about myself (and what will I become in the futur).I almost turned into a goth (not only the style but,the way I thinked on everything.The old me passed away.Everything was death for me).And then,school began once again 2 month later.

I went wrong until that day.The day when I saw an Old classmate friend watching an episode of MLP FiM.I asked him,Why do you guys love this show so much.Then he explained to me the brony phenomenon,the awesomeness,etc.I was still not convinced.He insisted me to watch the show.So,I did my research on Youtube.I stumbled on a KYM video explaining about MLP in general.So all was my finally clear for me.So I decided to give it a try (finally).

Ok,the first time I watched the 2 first episode.I was like «Wtf am I watching,Am I on drug or what ?».I laughted for fourty minute non stop.

Part 2 of 2

Then couple of day passed by.

I was bored alone at home.So I decided.Why not watching more episode ?I finished season 1 in a week.I was like What is wrong with me ?Why do I enjoy that show so much ?No one must ever know ! I became hooked.On October 2011,I officially became a brony.

Someday at school,I was at a computer,and I decided to watch a PMV.then some people in my class stared at me saying «OMG,what the hell you're watching dude».I laughted to my classmate reaction.but,I was myself ashamed for couple of minute.So,I decided to explain the brony phenomenon.Hopefully,they understood me rather than judging me (I even make three people to watch the show.And two of them were converted.The last remain neutral).

My life kinda changed since that day.I am more happy.I am more open minded.Life seem brighter.If it wasn't because of ponies (and brony subculture),I would not be here on KYM with awesome people like you.I wouldn't know about the internet either

One of the PMV I was watching in class:

THE END

Wow. I didn't realize that I post 300 images and posted over 5000 comments on KYM so far until I refreshed my profile.

I just hate when my keyboard bug and some word I didn't wrote appear just to buck up my phrase.

@Daniel getting banned

Silly Daniel…pissing off mods is for RussianFedora. Hope its not permanent

@Origin stories

We've had these before but nobody can remember them so I guess we may as well discuss it again. Why not? A lot of these stories are interesting reads.

So here's mine if anyone cares:

I didn't think of much when I saw the MLP article first appear in KYM. I glanced at it and probably though "well that's cute, not much of a meme though"

"So 4chan is making lots of image macro's based off a girls show to piss off the channers who like keeping things grimdark? That's just what 4chan would do." I thought to myself and thought no further

In those early days I compared MLP to Nyan Cat and Robot Unicorn. Just one of those cute things the internet like to parade around to contrast against its horribleness.

Little did I know…

Over the months I watched that MLP article trend and trend and trend and trend and trend

I watched the images flood in by a landslide, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400…all in a matter of months.

Discussion of MLP only grew more and more rapid…it astounded me how one small thing could get so much prolonged attention, I couldn't understand it. Finally it dawned on me that this was no meme, but a subculture being born. I had to learn more.

I was already fascinated by subcultures but I never got a chance to see one in the making so dedicated a lot of time into watching the fandom form like the birth of a star and learn how it worked like a machine. But the more I did so, the more I exposed myself to the infection until it reached critical levels. Those cute ponies called to me, louder and louder with each passing day. I didn't want to think I was interested in watching the show but the slew of fanart, video's and fictions continued to peck at my curiosity and draw me closer with each passing moment.

Eventually after browsing the image gallery for a dose of cuteness for the hundredth time I had to admit to myself that if I was hooked. If I was ever going to fully understand this fandom then watching the show was inevitable.

So, for the sake of science and my curiosity I decided to watch the first set of episodes purely to find out what triggered all those Youtube comments proclaiming its greatness. I recorded my findings in this document which I posted on Facebook:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

By the end of that article, there was no denying what I had become now.

[edit]

Argh, image quality is terrible for some reason. It wasn't like that before I uploaded it. KYM must have re-compressed it or something, sorry.

@BSOD's story

Someone needs to draw an OC pony for "Twinky Spatula".

we need more violence in this thread

Everybody is sharing stories of how they became bronies, I might as well do the same.
I ran into a trailer mash up while looking up the trailer for thor. At the time, I was depressed and it really helped me get my mind off of many things. The fact that it helped me through a tough time made me get a soft spot for the show. That's about it I guess.

@daniel getting banned
What happened?

he asked for a temp ban

What?
You can ask for bans? And the Mods actually listen? That's news to me.

Hmm, okay. I thought he got banned just for pissing off the moderators with his pony threads.

Now that I think about it though, if the moderators banned for that reason, RussianFedora and Itiz would have been permabanned long ago

eyup.

@Daniel got banned

Wow, theses few days just got weirder and weirder…

@Brony Origin

Well, for a guy who lives in the Southern East Asia, I didn't quite adapt myself to the internet culture. Simply, I just surf around Youtube, Facebook, etc. etc. But one day, as I was browsing Youtube for the latest uploads from my favourite Youtubers, I happened to stumble upon a thumbnail of the characters of MLP while holding guns on one of the machinima videos. At first, I have no idea who these characters are because I had never seen them before. So I clicked on it. Sadly, the thumbnail didn't relate to the videos. It's just some guy who thought that putting cuddly things as thumbnails can attract a lot of viewers. (Similar to the theory of putting tits as thumbnails)

Then I scrolled down to read the highest rated comment and it said: "Where the f*** are my ponies?!" and other pony related comments. I was like "dafuq? ponies?" "What are they?" "What's the commotion about?" That was the time when the fandom was still small and fresh and little did I know that there was such a fanbase. But that's where my conversion began. As the fandom grew wider and more dominant in the internet, plus my related videos are full of ponies, my spaces and sites are all cramped with ponies. I finally stopped resisting, I decided to do a brief research on MLP. Before MLP, I didn't even what's 4chan or Cheezeburgers. I also began to question why these men wants to watch MLP. And that's when Youtuber Kyrospawn came in and upload the clips from the episodes. My first clip was Fluttershy's infamous "squee" along with her "rage mode". An "awwwww…." and "Woaaaahhh!" escaped through my lips. For a while, I had ingested a lot of clips and I commented that these clips are cool and awesome.

That's where the next step kicked in, for the first time, I braced myself to watch the first episode of MLP. The first few episode was a little weird. I tell you, I tried to hold my laughs and bare the embarrassing feeling of watching those. But as I watched more episodes, the story lines were easier to overcome and comprehend. Along the road towards bronism, I bumped into trolls, pony-haters, anti-bronies and stuffs like that. I could tell most of them were being argumentative, bias, prejudice and having a wrong self-perspect towards others based on their uncommon characteristics.

Well, at least I know I'm different from them. Most of the starters just rambled on being so disgusted when being showed to watch MLP. And they finally realised that they are wrong when when they gradually fell for it. At least I didn't complain about the "girly" show like the arrogant ones even if I didn't even know what MLP was. At least, I didn't criticise others for being "gay fags" for watching MLP. At least, in the most correct way, I tried to experience first before I made any comments and conclusions. Even if I didn't like the show, I could just shut up about it or I could just state my disagreements in a friendly matter. Unlikes the ones who budge in the community and make a fuss about it. And I could say is I love MLP, I am a brony and I'm proud. Whether you like it or not, that's your own problem and deal with it. Even if i have friends who hate MLP, we can still be best friends because respect each others opinion. No flamewars, no debates, just agree and disagree. I'm Bruelock from Southern East Asia, Malaysia and I'm a brony.

-Story of my journey to Bronyhood, Bruelock.

My tale is pretty simple:
Best friend said, "Look, Ponies!"
I'm like, "Well, you can go right ahead."
Thought no more about it.
We move away.
In rememberance of best friend, I watch some episodes that were showing on the hub.
They just happen to be the Discord episodes.
My mind simultaneously explodes and reforms into something better.
From there, I was determined to become catched up on the show.
I still haven't been… (sob)
And, to make things funnier, my family found out soon on, and were like, "WTF?"
My parents are now just enduring it, but my sister rants and rages about how I shouldn't like a little girl's show.
I love and tolerate her to death.
The end.

Since everyone's doing it…

I was lurking KYM for quite a while and noticed a bunch of multicolored ponies started popping up everywhere. I was confused and got off to study for a test at school. The next day I noticed some of my friends started to take a liking for the ponies, which made me even more surprised. (my friends can be hot-blooded and stubborn about most things)

After a year or so, I thought I should at least look at a few episodes of the show so I wouldn't be left out. Somehow I squeezed in some time between work at school and finding out who's messing with me. Long story short, I watched all of season one in the span of two days. I never knew how addicting the show could be.

Ah, the good ol' bronification stories. Gotta love 'em.

So, it's the cold winter of 2011, and I'm lurking about on The Escapist, looking to waste some time reading this and that on the forums there. Then I catch a glimpse of one 'a them avatars. I takes a closer look-see, think to myself: "Huh, that's odd. Looks kinda like My Little Pony, but not quite. Pretty adorable though." I then go about my business, as usual.

Some time later (March to be exact), I spot a thread titled something to the effect of "WTF is all this pony shit?" Interest piqued, I click the link and start reading. Ah, apparently there's a new series of dem miniature equines. That 'splains the avatars. Oh look, people are hating on fans the show, how predictable. Wait a minute, fans? Oh, what's this? They're actually fighting back with reasonable arguments while remaining civil about it? Well shiver me timbers and call me a scurvy pirate, this be intriguing 'nuff to warrant a closer gander, arrr.

Donning my eye-patch and taking a hearty swig of grog, I set sail to Youtube, intent on plundering this newly discovered treasure. Soon enough I find the resting place of episode 1, and start watching. Oh, cool backstory you've got there. Very nice storybook visuals, too. Heh, this certainly looks promising…

Hours later, I come to the realization that I've binged on several episodes of adorable, marshmallow equines. Unlike in most stories of this kind, however, it was no big shock for me. I've always had me a soft spot for the cute stuff. Hell, I even watched the original G1 cartoons in my misspent youth. Anyhow, I conclude that the show is pretty damn good, even without the adorableness factor, and over the next week or so I continued watching it when I had the time.

Then I reach the last episode (I think it was Sonic Rainboom at the time). I desperately look for a link to the next one. Is this all there is? Did this thing get canned prematurely? I decide to do some digging, in the process discover Equestria Daily, and realize this is an ongoing show. It's also the first time I realize the fanbase is more than just a few scattered individuals quietly enjoying the show and occasionally putting down haters. I decide to delve deeper into this phenomenon. I read about the origins of the show and the fanbase's great trial by fire in the depths of 4chan. I see the grand fanart and hear the great fanmusic. I even start reading fanfics, discovering that even these popular targets of ridicule are of quality in this realm.

And so things go on, I watch each new episode once they get uploaded, see haters fall and become fans, and just generally monitor the fandom's progress. Somewhere down the line I found the community here, not quite sure when. I lurked around for a good long while (pretty much from the summer onwards) without really feeling like contributing myself. But then, one day I felt bored and lonely and decided I might as well actively take part.

Sure, I could have gone to a number of other places, but this one here is the sort I like best. Not so many folks that I can't keep up or stand out, but big enough to get some discussion rolling. And, since the lot of you seem to be a bit of chaste bunch, I figured you could use a pervert's perspective from time to time, hah.

So, that's my story. If you want a short version, you lazy bum, I'll kindly provide:
See thread on escapist, see folks praising show reasonably, see show, like it, discover fanbase, lurk about, join this thread, rest is history.

Here you go:

Twilights cousin who works in the foodstuffs industry

lol. Trollface cutie mark.

Daniel was banned because he spammed threads.

It's a temporary ban, so unless it gets appealed before then, he'll be back in a week.

Want me to permaban you?

Luis asked for a ban so he could focus on his studies. So yeah, you can ask for them if you want (only for yourself though, requests for others will be ignored obviously).

The standard ban only lasts a week, as people are asking that.

I can understand how a temporary ban would help some people stay focused.
Luckily, I have all the focus I need!
Thats why… I'm… on the internet… damn.
Oh well… anyway,
THIS THREAD NEEDS MOAR PONIES!!!!!!!
Okieday people, who have you told of your brony-ness, and what have been their responses?
I haven't been very hidden about my behaviour, so almost everyone I know knows, and most of them are fine with it, luckily. (Except my sister, of course,)

Basically, I'm at this:

Well most of my friends know I'm a brony. The first one found out when he found my collection of pony episodes on my laptop. He loudly asked what all those ponies were doing there, so that alerted about 3 more of my friends to my status as a brony. Since then I've told most of my other friends about it, because they'd find out eventually anyway.I haven't gotten anyone to actually watch an episode yet, but that first friend of mine (who is quite adamant about hating everything to do with MLP:FiM) now knows and respects both Rainbow Dash and Derpy thanks to me. So, obviously, the assimilation has begun. He will be a full brony shortly.

My parents know too, but they don't care. They still watch Bugs Bunny, so I don't think it surprises them at all that I'd watch a show like this. Especially after I told them about how it is NOTHING like what you would expect a show about ponies to be like. So, I guess that's a bit of a victory.

I also found out that another one of my friends is a brony ironically (so… not really a brony). But, at least I can talk about stuff and he knows what I mean.

Another friend of mine has a girlfriend who works at McDonald's… so I feel it is my duty to get her to "acquire" the complete set of McDonald's ponies for me.

And that, everyone, is my life history as a brony.

but that first friend of mine (who is quite adamant about hating everything to do with MLP:FiM) now knows and respects both Rainbow Dash and Derpy thanks to me.

Good, he likes best pony and best secondary pony.

You taught him right.

I told my mom, and me and my brother converted her. Really easily, in fact…

Other than that, I tell everybody I meet on the internet that I'm a brony, but only if it comes up. I tend to find shoving it down their throats, while funny, drives people off. None of the people I know IRL know that I'm a brony, mostly because I don't trust them with that knowledge.

Nobody but my closest friend (who also likes the show, but isn't a brony) knows I'm a brony, and I plan on keeping it that way unless someone asks. I did say to another one of my friends via steam chat that I was one (we were talking about pony thread simulator vids), but I think he thought I was joking.

I try and keep it a secret as much as possible, which isn't really that hard, since everything I do pony-related is online in my room, and my roommate this semester is either out partying until late at night or sleeping. However, he does have the annoying habit of pacing about the room (when he's actually here) and occasionally stopping right behind me in thought while I'm on the PC. That's usually when I close any open pony tabs or windows.

Dunno 'bout you guys but I shed manly tears a few days ago. Why ? Because I just noticed the CMC resembled three girls I used to babysit a few years ago. The reason why it made me shed tears was that I treated them like daughters, one of them called me "daddy". I barely knew my dad so my heart was pretty much melted that day. One of them was tomboyish, one was a little clumsy and fancy, and the final one was fun loving. I even had to pick up a boy who was bullying them and force an apology out of him by picking him up by his collar. I almost cried when one of said that they hated me, she was having a really bad day. I played with them more than my other friends. But until now I notice that they all act like the little crusaders. My final visit made them cry when I had to leave. I tried to ignore it, but as soon as I closed the door I started to cry during my walk home. Possibly the only good thing I had ever done in my life so far. So a few days ago every memory I had appeared.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders are one of the only reason I watch the show, also I have yet to find what I'm good at. Well, that's enough sadness for y'all. I'ma be heading off to TF2 or Gmod or whatever.

Hm, I guess while I'm writing walls of text, I can tell the tale of how I became a brony in the first place. Gather round…

It all started last spring, about a year ago, when I first say ponies appearing all over the place. At first I didn't really pay any attention to them, but after a while they became hard to ignore. Just what were these ponies? Why did people like them? Those were questions I had to ask myself. So, to quench my thirst for answers, I went to the My Little Brony Memebase page. I looked at some images, but I didn't really understand what I saw. It wasn't until late September/early October that I saw something that caught my eye: Discord. He was a true villain, and from some of the fanart I say, he seemed like a pretty cool guy who doesn't afraid of anything. At that moment I became a brony, I just didn't realize it yet.

Every day or two I returned to Memebase or here to KYM to see what the brony community was up to, and eventually I decided to actually watch an episode. I had to study this phenomenon! Starting with episode 1. I got it on Friday and watched it when I got home from university. It was okay… I could see why people would enjoy it… but I didn't think it was anything special at the time. Of course, that night I couldn't get those darn ponies out of my head and I had to rewatch it the next day. I liked it more the second time. The only problem was that fact that my dial-up internet at home stopped my from getting any more episodes, so I had to wait until Monday to get episodes 2, 3 and 4. My feelings toward episode 2 were much the same as they were to episode 1, but episode 3 was different. I actually laughed during that one… it was genuinely enjoyable to watch! Episode 4 was even better, and both of those episodes are still among my favourites today. The next day I got the rest of the season, and the rest is history.

Oh, and I was not disappointed with Discord's appearance in the show. He is awesome.

tl:dr
Discord made me a brony.

When i first found out that i became a brony i was worried about letting anyone outside my family know because i feel like you can't trust anyone these days…it feel's like the second they know the littlest secret of yours they'll do everything they can to stretch it out and tell as many people…which is why I'm a bit of a shut-in.

Dude.

That's deep.

Everybody, hug Engie!

We're here for you bro.

If it helps keep posting your hilarious shit. I nearly pissed myself laughing when you posted the nope.avi after your mcdonald's pony collecting story… (where'd i see that again?)

My Celestia…
THEIR EVERYWHERE!!!

I really liked the story. It was…touching… :'D

Oh snap!

My friend and I were talking, are we sure Las Pegasus is supposed to be Las Vegas.
It could be Los Angeles, the las could have been a los and they have the same number of syllables.
Pe-ga-sus | An-ge-les
As opposed to Vegas which is two syllables.

Any thoughts?

"Las Pegasus" is supposed to be LA. "Las Haygas" is Vegas. At last, according to this:

This is very simple. If it was supposed to be Los Angeles, it would have been Los Pegsus, not Las Pegasus. And plus, I don't think they were going for syllabic accord; "Pegasus" sounds much more like "Vegas" than it does "Angeles."

Just popping in here to say that activity in the Know Your Meme Brony Brotherhood on Steam is at an all-time low, and it would be great if we could get some new members in there.

I can't see what does that have to with us…
That group is for KYMers including non-bronies such as yourself, so you can post this on the General forums or something.
There's little we can help you with seeing that this thread has dwindling numbers as it is, and those of us who are still here are already members.
Although if you want ONLY Brony members try the MLP entry's comment section… ( Though, I can't see why a pony-hater such as you would want to pick that choice in the first place.)
Anyway, Good luck.

@ Discussion topic:
I like to believe it means Los Angeles, it's not abut similar pronunciation or about the number of syllables, it's about the expression it was used in : From Philadelphia to Los Angeles (IE. Coast-to-coast) would make a lot more sense than Philadelphia to Las Vegas (Coast-to-..midwest?).
This is assuming two things:

• Fillydelphia is an expy of Philadelphia.
• Equestrian cities mirror the location of the US cities that their names are based-off.