Of my 50something vectors of Spotlight, the creepy one is my favorite. She's going to steal all of your news.
Equestria Daily is officially 8 years old! Thank you to everyone for supporting us and continuing to support us all these years later. From the people that spread the word about the site (and still post it everywhere on Youtube/Instagram/Twitter/Facebook) to those that might not know about it, to the 288 Patreon supporters that have kept this place going at it's 24/7 pace even all these years later. You are why we are still around.
We've posted a LOT of pony thanks to this hyper-creative fandom:
- 47,834 posts
- 2,865 Galleries of art with 143,250+ of only the best drawings in the fandom
- 4,066 Fanfics that made it past our super strict pre-readers (minus updates)
- 1,577 Animations and 502 SFM animations(and compilations of more than one!)
- 5,611 Music posts with multiple songs per
- 1,474 Music videos with 2-3 Each
- 13,862 Pieces of pony news to keep everyone informed
- 5,019 Comic posts with an average of 4 comics in each
And so much more. I don't know about you guys, but eight years felt like only two on my end. Pony time is bizarre like that. It feels like just yesterday I was getting a random message from someone on steam telling me I needed to watch My Little Pony and me responding with "lol wtf?"
Continue on down below~
Lauren Faust created the perfect everything when she popped this pitch up to Hasbro all those years ago. Who would have thought a show about cartoon horses could be so appealing on just about every level? The style with it's ridiculously appealing pony porportions, the music, the world, the characterization; everything was just a perfect storm for internet-memedom and eventually fandom domination.
EQD itself has been an awesome project to work on personally. I've tossed social life plans out the window, adopted ridiculous sleep schedules, gained more than the normal number of gray hairs for being 30, and fallen deep into ponyblivion, but I wouldn't trade the last 8 years for anything else. So many amazing friendships gained, experiences, and general crazy keep me going every day.
We've had a ton of people come and go helping the site out over the years too. From the earliest days of just me, Phoe, Calpain,Cereal, and our armada of awesome pre-eaders, to the middle times when we adopted Gameleon, and Hypermark for more techy stuff (one of which has saved this site too many times to count), and the newer days with our editorial writers, new music writers, Discord and comment moderators, and even EQD bot who never officially joined but has saved me so much time with his post compiler java voodoo. I might do most of the posting, sorting, and digging, but these guys have been here keeping the site flowing and madness at bay every step of the way.
The fandom itself has obviously slowed down as pretty much all fandoms do, but that hasn't stopped our creativity. Drawfriend posts still break 70 drawings in a single day sometimes, and even though we run out of things to post every once in a while, 12-16 topics a day is still super common. Conventions have left, but more have taken their place. Other places like Russia and the various Asian countries have gigantic pony fanbases that continue to contribute to what we do in the west. It's still a nonstop ride.
As for EQD, I'll personally keep it going as long as I can. If it gets to a point where I won't be able to run it full time due to lack of funds to support myself with it, it will still be here albeit with slightly slower posting schedule. We even have the entire site backed up elsewhere if Google randomly decides to shut down Blogger. Thanks to everyone again that has supported and continues to support it on Patreon over the last few years. You are literally the ones that keep it going at it's crazy rate.
Even if G5 is terrible, pony will never die. We as a fandom are far too creative to ever let it. Thousands of artist, musicians, video editors, game programmers, and more are still hard at work making sure you always have at least something to hop on and check out each day. Hell, half my favorite characters these days are OC ponies! And even without them, you all have created such amazing stories for the background characters in the show that we could run on that fuel for years.
The reality is, Friendship is Magic isn't going anywhere. Things might change and shift on the official side, but our mane 6 and their hundreds of friends will always be there on the internet just begging for more content to expand on their canon. 26 episodes a year sure as hell isn't what has kept this ride going. It's all of us, and I know I'm not the only one that can't resist drawing and posting more pony!
Calpain:
Calpain here guys! I'm not quite sure what else to say that Seth didn't cover already but here goes! When I started my journey into the pony fandom back in early 2011 I had no idea that within less than a year I would be given the opportunity to work for Equestria Daily. Back then I was focused on earning my Masters and stressing out about my future and when I was suddenly invited to join the EqD Team all those years ago I was overwhelmed with happiness and excitement, but also very nervous as well.
I was never much of a social person and as I made my first posts on EqD I did so with a bit of a pit in my stomach. Some of the first comments were pretty critical: "Who the heck is this Calpain guy?" "It should have been so and so getting a position."
I admit it was tough at first, but as time went on those comments disappeared and I started to find my stride and over the years grew more and more connected to the community. And that's what it is all about as Seth has alluded to. Thanks to this community, thanks to working for EqD I outgrew a lot of my shyness and have met so many amazing people. Today I don't think I would have the courage to stand up in front of a class of kids each day and speak if it wasn't for the social interactions I ran into within the fandom.
The fandom and the website have changed a lot over time as has my activity, but my love for the community will never change and the memories I have here, at conventions and elsewhere online I will always cherish.
Regardless of what the future holds pony will exist in one shape or form and EqD will more than likely be here in some capacity as long as Seth and I are around. Even if the fandom were to inexplicably disappear after G4 ends we'll always have our memories and the good times we've had together.
Here is to another year my friends! Let's make it a great one! Even if this science pony isn't around as much with real life stealing away his time he always is and forever will be part of this great community that has changed his life.
