I've learned a lot in these past few weeks.  Getting honest reactions from people about HiE situations was enlightening.  Arguably better, though, were the things I learned about fanfiction as a whole.

The philosophical musings of Ben and Nick taught me the importance of having someone to confide in.  As brothers, they already had each other, but the rest of us have to find someone.  You just have to take the first step and get your secrets out on the table.  If they're a good friend, they won't push you away.

From Jaclyn, I discovered that you don't have to please all the critics.  While fanfiction can be a powerful thing, it's not life or death, and you don't have to accommodate everyone.  As long as you do your best at pleasing yourself, you'll be all right.

Todd forced me to think about myself.  I've heard of military bronies, but I never expected to meet a militant brony.  He’s serious about reforming the ponyfic community.  He's also serious about getting me to open up.  After letting me think for a while about his last message, he sent another e-mail with a link to his FIMFiction page.  He turned out to be one of my favorite writers!  I can't believe this.

I think I know where I need to go from here.  While I’m not quite ready to wear pastel pony logos on my clothing, I should make some changes.  

First off, I’m going to get in contact with Professor Harding and tell him that I’d rather do my project on the psychology of self-discovery.  While I enjoyed interviewing everyone, trying to arrange all the random data I've taken into a viable project probably won't work.

After the report is done, I'm going to try writing pony stories again.  I’ve joined the fanfiction club.  The members all vowed to accept me the way I am and support whatever I do.  I couldn’t ask for anything more.

author notes

If you didn't catch it in the description, yes, this story is fictional.  Mostly.

Despite that, I still had to do a bunch of research.  I'm not actually a psychology student.

I'd like to thank Dash Vader, CenturionFox13, and Altoid for working directly on the project.  Fernin deserves mention just because he's Fernin.   I'd like to recognize about a dozen other people who helped me get started when I first began writing this story over a month ago, and also my regular readers who have contributed to this story in various subtle ways, perhaps without realizing it.  Don't worry, that doesn't mean I planted subliminal experiements in my other stories.

Thank you all.