TrotCon Day 3 & AAR: Brony Sunday · 2:28am Jul 23rd, 2019
How do bronies spend their Sunday mornings? Just like ever pony else, they go to 10 AM Mass. In this case, I found myself sitting in Fiaura The Tank Girl’s panel on the Psychology of My Little Pony, aka “Brony Church”. But before we cover that, let’s back up just a little bit, and examine how my Brony Sunday began.
After the pervious day’s late night, I was well and truly stove in. But I didn’t want the magic of the con to be over, quite yet. And so, I dragged myself back into consciousness and downstairs for another run on the dealer hall.
Walking over there, we passed the mens bathroom which if the mirrors and light fittings that had been torn out and placed against an adjacent wall, the large wheeled garbage bin parked in front of the door, and the sign reading “Out of Order. Sorry For The Inconnvience- Mgmnt” were any evidence had been destroyed by a late night bender.
In any case, only the bathroom in the pool, which was with the hot weather by now subtropical was open and caused quite the inconvenience for us, thank you very much Mr. Management… and I bet you weren’t sorry either! Joking aside, con staff dealt with the issue quickly, it turned out to be the renovating contractors doing work and not the result of a misbehaved guest to the intense relief of all. Although given they decided to demolish a bathroom on the weekend of a con, a drunken HGTV-style bender is not entirely out of the question!
That morning, I had one mission in the dealer hall. Traditionally I buy both pony prints and toys from TrotCon and since I was satisfied in my pursuit of toys it was art I was after. I had seen some good prints the previous day, but settled on a lovely DJ PON3 print I hadn’t seen before that ate my limited pocket money.
It is at this point I should explain that my local ATM was broken the night before the con and thus most of my purchases were made by plastic. But I still prefer to use cash where possible, and in this case the print (signed by the artist, no less!) cost $15 that aligned nicely with what was in my wallet.
It’s this part of the blog where OGM will start complaining I spent too much money on that print.
Anyhow, another thing I had neglected to mention was that the night previously, whilst I was hurrying off to my sketchbook panel, OGM & Tigerrose were off having dinner with T & Ms. K, the former a friend of OGM’s and the latter his daughter. We met up with them at the dealer hall the next morning. I was really surprised how big young Ms. K has gotten, they grows like weeds these days I tell you! She has become quite the young lady since last we met. But she was focused on hanging out with her dad, and I on acquiring my print so we did not talk much.
And so I found myself sitting in Brony Church, as Sister Fiaura gave her sermon upon the glory of our lords and saviors, plastic pony toys. The panel was… intense. It was held in the main hall and did in fact have the subdued, reflective feeling of a church. Unlike a church, however (spot the atheist here) the message was positive, and enlightening. Fiaura’s talks about how the show handles tough topics like divorce, suicide, white lies, and others from the perspective not only of a fan but from the perspective of a professional in the field of human communication really drove home what makes the show special for all of us.
Yes, it is an well written and fun cartoon. But it’s morals on Friendship and the community that those morals have both created and nurtured through the years are what make it special.
At this point OGM is probably rolling his eyes, and calling me a hopeless optimist. I’ll admit, we Bronies have not always lived up to the shows ideals. Perhaps I am a hopeless optimist, vision clouded by the post-scarcity neo-socialist future Star Trek promised me we’d have and the utopia pony promises friendship brings.
But I really found this whole con a great positivity boost, an refuge from the sink of negativity the world has become. I hold out hope, as Fiaura does, for the new generation of boys and girls who have been guided by pony that not only will they discover the fandom but they will live their lives in friendship with one another as a result.
Fiaurua’s most emotional moment came when she spoke about the recent episode in which Gallus sabotages Christmas Break for the student six in order to stay with his friends over the holidays. It was the emotional crescendo of the panel and I don’t think there wasn’t a person in the house, myself included, that didn’t want to hug her right then and there.
The panel ended after a short Q&A panel, and the herd all went for coffee and donuts afterwards, or more accurately to the vendor hall to buy Fiaura’s new Fallout Equestia book. I’m not a huge Fallout guy, so I opted instead for a short chat about Soviet helmets and buying a small “For Science!” print.
The next panel I attended was one focused on Equestrian Medicine, and was really enlightening. Like many technological and historical details in our favorite pony land, the Medical practices in Equestria range from modern to downright Medieval. It seems to me that, the less magical the disease or condition being treated, the more modern the treatment seems to be. Thus, Poison Joke is treated with an humor balancing elixir, and broken wings get splints and a hospital stay. On the subject of Dash’s injured wing (yes, waaaay back in Season One!) apparently pegasi heal Wolverine fast, which must have been a useful ability in the days when they were warriors. Other notable points brought up in the panel were remarks on Kefuffle from Rainbow Roadtrip’s artificial limb being the clear result of an amputation (apparently being a clean line & below the knee is a giveaway) and Derpy’s cameo in “Where The Apple Lies” being a link in a chain of cameos that suggest her signature eyes are the result of a degenerative condition which a surgery was able to at least stop from progressing.
Then the panels were over, closing ceremonies approached, and it was time for lunch. The adventure was over… or so I thought. What actually was something magical: friendship! It started by sitting down at the table in front of the traveling Pony museum in the lobby, next to PresentPerfect. He was gamely trying to get us to game, specifically to play the Sentinals card game. Unfortunately OGM isn’t one for CCGs, and my frazzled mind was many Diet Caffeines short of functional so we politely declined. He did later get his game in with Holly Oats. Then TrickQuestion arrived, bearing a large Thorax plush. Then, the egnimatic Bad Horse appeared. Apparently, he’d been trying to find OGM all con only to be betrayed by his smart phone’s stupidity. Robb emerged briefly to ask where OGM had been during the speed fic panel (talking with T & Ms. K was the answer). A lovely couple whoes names escaped us somehow joined us. And finally WanderD wandered in.
We sat, talked, and exchanged some gifts related to the Pink Pony, as restaurant on Mackinaw Island in Michigan with which we and Bad Horse are familiar. Personally, I think we ought to get a writers retreat running on that island one day, what better place to write MLP then on a island with only horses for transport? PresentPerfect went and rescued a Derpy shoulder plush for the low price of $200 and his better judgement. I received a text from Tigerrose, revealing she’d bought no less than three Stranger Things ponies at the local Target. Then hunger siddled up to us, and politely inquired if maybe we shouldn’t all be getting something to eat?
And so as a send off to the weekend, we decided to head off to lunch. A quick investigation of both the con buffet and hotel restaurant revealed that the former had disappeared and the latter was closed. Thus we decided upon a sortie to nearby Worthington, Ohio and a meal at the local Panera. WanderD, BadHorse, Myself, and OGM as well as aforesaid couple were in attendance. Conversation was fascinating, ranging from such topics as religion, to the SCA and Pennsic. A good time and eats were had by all, and then we went our separate ways, heading for home.
We arrived to yet more pony! Apparently Tigerrose went on something of a spree, gathering up a massive lot of thrift store ponies for us to work on. It was the perfect coda to a really awesome convention.
So, what can I say looking back with a days distance at my Brony Sunday? Well, it was a great day that ended the Con better than any formal ceremony could have and really made me happy. This con has been great for getting me writing again and I will continue to do so for my BronyCon experience. With a days distance, I now have a few new missions for myself including of course writing more but also I have realized that I need to go and buy some picture frames when I’m out thrifting for all the pony art I’ve bought over the years so I can really enjoy it. I also have some new people to follow or contact. And OGM says he will also send this series of posts to his followers, so hopefully this series of blogs is well received by them! And with that, I’ll see everybody again at BronyCon!
I'll have to ask Fiaura how I can join her church...it seems the only religion that makes sense, to me!
I'm happy that you and OGM had a great time. I'm looking forward to seeing you both at Bronycon!
Bah, it's a fixed deck game! >:B
The bathroom was actually closed? D: That hotel was insane. It was open by the time I left Sunday, but still...
Hah! I saw I had a new follower, and came to check your profile out, failing to connect the name "BlueBook" with you at the con. I was very surprised to find myself reading about myself.