Ghost Mike's UK PonyCon 2024 Report – Part 4: Thank You For Being a Friend · 6:00pm November 1st
AJ Bridel had been the crowd favourite at both voice actor main stage events, but the queue lengths here – priority for Ashleigh Ball on left, normal for her in the middle, AJ on right – is in line with their actual popularity. This isn’t gonna be a pleasant wait…
Part 3 (of 4) can be read here. Where last we left off, I’d had a fun bout at Pony Kart, Britannia Master had been a heartwarming chortle, and my pivot to the last signing session to get a JowyB Applejack original signed by Ashleigh Ball was almost turned away, were it not for the autograph token Hawthornbunny had gifted me allowing me to join the “priority” queue.
Oh, and a lower-quality Batannia plush I’d donated to the charity auction expecting it to go for £30 went for £1,350 off a bidding war between two feverish collectors. Just the small things, you know.
Hawthorn’s much-appreciated token was a vital relief but past us now, as it was clear right from the start that this queue would go right up to Closing Ceremonies at 17:15 (and also meant I couldn’t have played in the Pony Kart final even if I did qualify). And the queue was slow. Between the 20th anniversary attendance boost, how beloved Ashleigh’s characters are, and how rarely she goes to cons nowadays in general, never mind all the way to the UK, people weren’t passing this up. One volunteer even disclosed that despite also voicing two Mane 6 ponies, Andrea Libman still only generated normal queue lengths two years prior that all finished on time (okay, in a con with 300-odd less people, but even so). The trouble was, they could only speed it up so much – many were opting for photos, where you can’t enforce a quick time limit like you can for autographs. It got worse when some people were allowed to jump ahead as they had slips for not making it through the earlier session (so their earlier queuing wouldn’t go to waste), sending me back nearly a dozen places.
I got really worried as 17:00 approached that we wouldn’t make it, and seriously considered swapping to the basically-empty AJ Bridel queue before she left, so I’d at least get something. But the con volunteers, despite being rather unsure earlier, assured us we’d get seen to, even if it meant missing the closing ceremonies. Which, being around the corner from the main stage, we could hear the Pony Kart finals playing from.
Around 17:30 (I could hear the Closing Ceremonies just starting), right as I was only a few places off Ashleigh, they offered anyone who wanted to get one from AJ before she left, and they’d hold the place in the Ashleigh queue. I hemmed and hawed, but eventually decided I had nothing to lose, having queued this long, and took it. If you’d told me Pipp’s VA would be the first Pony VA I’d ever talk directly with (questions in Q&A don’t count) and the first I’d get an autograph from, I’d have said you were crazy. But here we are, and as if she hadn’t won me over already, when she asked how I was and I quipped that I was dehydrated off burning through my water from the 90-minute queue (by then, I could feel a bout of temperature irregulation coming on), she looked all sad and glum and gave me a spare bottle. And also took back the Absolute Sweetheart Gold Model. I don’t know if she recognised me from my question yesterday (I mean, I don’t think there weren’t any other ghosts at the con… 
), but we shared a few fun words, and she signed the default sheet with a great in-character phrase.
We'll agree to overlook Ashleigh presuming I was a pony when I was corporeal. 
I suppose it adds character, after a fashion. And AJ thinking I'm iconic? Well, I try. And succeed, evidently! 👻
Seriously, though, I don't care for autographs usually, but these warm me up just looking at them, even now. 
Back in Ashleigh’s queue, half-a-dozen spots later, I was finally there. She was low-key, but really cool, and while signing not just the JowyB original, but also my name and hers on a default sheet as an unprompted bonus, I got to tell her why I loved Applejack so much. Rarity’s the most entertaining one, Twilight is the one most like me, but Applejack is the one I’d most want as a friend, for deeper reasons than being dependable and always having your back. She got it instantly, doubly so for me saying it’s the warmth she brings to the role that I treasure most, and I left the exchange with a spring in my step.
Off all that, I missed most of the closing ceremonies, largely just catching the final thank-yous to the committee and the attendees. I did watch a recording back later, which included AJ popping onstage for heartfelt thanks and gratitude (Ashleigh never got to, off finishing the last signings). Hilariously, Bexi showed her what I presumed (later saw and confirmed) was fanart of Pipp and a subway, a reference to AJ saying during the Q&A that Subway was one brief teen job she got fired from – yep, the con is that quick on the memes!
During the Q&A, Bexi said fanart of Pipp working at Subway was an inevitability. AJ’s response? That she also worked at a skateboard shop disassembling and reassembling the things, telling us to have at it. Well, Chaosmauser certainly did that!
Back in the present, I heard the final attendance record of 1,371 people (including staff, granted) and the charity-raised figure of £20K, well above the prior £12K high. So, yes, was more down to a generally higher auction tax off the people and atmosphere: my Batannia was only a portion of that. But still, a 6.75% chunk, and an individual item con record to boot. So as low value as it was, who am I to question some new collector with cash to burn? 
Those thoughts carried me to a high as the final cheer went up. At the very least, it will live on in our group, if probably not all the way to next year for attendees as a whole.
If all the work Bexi does for the con isn't enough, especially for this super-big year, later I found out it was her birthday a week after the Sunday! Suffice to say, I’m even more onboard with Britannia's hug than we all were at the time.
Outside after the ceremony (and hydrating up on plenty of water, of course), I found the Worcester group and we posed for a private photo, before heading off to the Gooseberry Bush for our regular post-con meal. This was the only time it rained all weekend, so I took care to protect my signed things, but it was light enough. Enough folks only came on Saturday, left early today or had to dash somewhere that it was a manageable enough number once again. Relative to last year, it was a bit more low-key, and outside of discussing some legacy British animation and Patrick divulging much more about that fan animation project, I couldn’t tell you what kept some of us around until nearly ten, long past finishing the food.
Mild blues hit me at seeing the con venue already mostly stripped of the Ponies on the way back to the hotel. 
On the other hand, there were lots of sharing notes and photos with the group on Discord as I packed, and Hawthorn was no less enthused about how the weekend had gone. Saturday was for sure bigger, and more happened there, but Sunday had the two highlights of the weekend, between Batannia and the autographs. One of them somewhat ironic, but memories are memories, folks. And that, coupled with all the other fun and interacting with the crew in the margins, plus how much my friends had enjoyed it… well, it left me very happy as I finished sorting everything and turned in.
Ponies being able to do all that… that’s the true magic. 
Applejack got the last Smol laugh in the end. Even with Izzy being only figure-sized, and even if not counting her horn, I'm still shorter (if much bigger, I concede). I knew there would be payback to G5 unicorns being on the tall side…
Monday: Thank You For Being a Friend
This morning made it clear that the appetite struggles had flipped from their usual trajectory in years past, even if they remained comparatively smaller. Despite only going down at 10:00, it took an hour to eat slightly less breakfast than what took 40 minutes yesterday. I thus couldn’t rush in last-minute checks upon returning to an already-ready Hawthorn. The end result was, though he was ready on time, we left at 11:30, a half-hour later than intended. But his train wasn’t until nearly two, and I wasn’t pre-booked, so this wasn’t a problem.
We met up at the Nottingham Railway Station Starbucks as usual, and found a decent few of the crew there, including Loganberry. Good comic banter was passed around, as was sharing some of our favourite moments, top purchases, and a few jokes at the expense of Batannia. Naturally I didn’t want it to end, not when this con had been such a knockout and I had a solid six hour commute ahead to hold off the blues for. But it’s like they say, folks… absence makes the heart grow fonder. So all too soon, Applejack and I said goodbye, and I even approximated some hugs with the corporeal forms of my willing friends. Don’t worry, they’re well accustomed to the chills when my kind passes through flesh by now. 👻
[Ghost Mike stares wistfully down the stairs to our platform. Noticing this, Applejack's face softens.]
"You okay, sugarcube?"
"Huh. Yeah, course I am, Applejack. It's just… that con, all the people and ponies, I…"
"Yeah. I know. Don't you go telling nopony this, but… I miss it already too. And while that Ashleigh lass ain't me… she's pretty cool."
A minor train cancellation put paid to the one I was intending to catch, so I took a connecting route to Derby, then to Birmingham New Street, both uneventful unless you count not getting a seat on the latter. But I continued to pass the time diving further into the same Ponyfic adventure novel from Friday. I arrived at the airport at 14:40, two hours on the dot before takeoff – which was good, as the security departures queue was backed up right into the main lobby. I kid you not, it took eighty minutes to get through that – I’ve always flown out on Monday before, and never seen anything akin to this in Birmingham. It was like the queue for Ashleigh Ball all over again, just minus all the pony fans. Guess there’s a good reason for having two hours buffer time!
The net result of this was not having time for a meal on the other side, so having run through the last of my stockpiled snacks in that queue, I coughed up exorbitant airport convenience store prices for some more. The rest was totally uneventful: we took off close-ish to time, landing only 15 minutes later. An hour later, courtesy of a parental pickup from my mom (who had come here straight from her golf despite me saying to not need to be here before 18:00, thus earning herself a 45-minute wait; yep, she cares too much 
), and recounting much of the adventure that was my UK PonyCon 2024 experience, I was Home Sweet – well, I was home, anyway.
Final Thoughts
I actually went home with a lighter, less packed suitcase than I went over with, between how little I got against the depleted snacks and Batannia. But still, quality over quantity, right? It certainly eased up on the open wallet surgery, if nothing else.
Really, what do I even add after all that? A delayed flight there, getting stuck in an autograph queue for 90+ minutes, rising travel and accommodation costs, buying only four things (discounting gifts and freebies) off low impulse buying nerves and the jammed schedule (which also contributed to perhaps not interacting with the Worcester crowd as much as desired), those are the only things that could/should have been better. Well, having a poor morning appetite again that necessitated careful planning, but the planning there worked.
No contest, this is easily my favourite yet, no easy feat four in. Oh sure, 2019 has the honour of being first and getting me my inaugural plush in Applejack, 2022 had the wonderful Andrea Libman and the Pinkie plush she signed from the Charity Auction, and last year, though lacking an obvious standout (though I don’t discount the 4th Dimension Unicorn Twilight plush), was more consistently solid. But this has both consistency and several evergreen highlights I’ll carry with me, plus there wasn’t a dud in any event I did all weekend. That pretty much clinches the deal.
Seriously folks: it’s nearly two weeks on at the time of writing, and I’m still riding high from it all. That 20th Anniversary Fan Animation and its panel. Scootertrix being so sincere and guileless in his G1 defence in a way that worked. Standbys in the fan script/Q&A, The Great Britannia Bake-Off, the Pub Quiz, Cartoon Riff, Britannia Master and the Charity Auction all up to their prior standard. A fun outing at a Mario Kart 64 pony mod. The atmosphere and my friends. And then three unique highs in Hawthorn’s panel, getting those autographs, and the (awkward?) hilarity with my Batannia plush. And the two guests were knockouts: I’ve fully taken back any suspicions Ashleigh Ball has checked out from the show/fandom, and AJ Bridel has let me see what others see in Pipp. With all due respect to Ashleigh, AJ ended up being the con’s star guest. Across the weekend, she was that much of an absolute sweetheart.
That’s not even mentioning just how… wonderfully affable the atmosphere of the whole thing was. It didn’t feel too jammed off the record attendance outside of specific panels or queues, so oppression didn’t intrude either. Wonderful staff and con-goers as ever too, and while not like the three year wait between 2019 and 2022, I loved seeing and being with my friends in the Worcester Shires group. Plus even just talking shop with other strangers in queues or at stalls. Pony brings down your walls like nothing else, after all.
Probably not what Hawthorn had in mind when making these panels, but not just those Pipp snapshots, but the sentiment behind these descriptions of aurally pleasing sounds, is so fitting here it hurts makes my mouth hurt from grinning.
I’ve really been having a hard time of it lately, finding myself unsure and going through the motions in many aspects of life (getting more active with watching and logging films being the one notable current success). Perhaps that’s why I’m still riding high, this was such a wonderful boost to the system. I think it’s helped reinforce that joy and delight is out there even when you think it’s not. Or as Sunny put it, “Gonna Be My Day”. You just need to go find it. And with G5 having ended on a quiet whimper not even a fortnight after the con, leaving us, for better or for worse, with a lengthy future stretch of no official Pony content, I think that’s a more important, and more beautiful, takeaway than ever. You can always make lemonade out of lemons.
There’s no way next year can top this, not without all the extra work put in for the 20th anniversary, but I don’t think it needs to. Possibly the con will just be comfort food going forward, but it’s surprised me every year (I’m not alone: Logan’s sometimes said he’s tired of it using the same venue for six cons running now, and not just for accommodation difficulties, yet he admits he finds it wonderfully run and a bliss of escapism every time regardless). When you only do something once a year, that’s a long enough gap that it’ll invariably be special.
And if I get lonely in the interim? Hey, I always have this report of wonderful memories to look back on. 
How’s that for being productive for oneself’s future?
Me, on donating this on Saturday afternoon: “Now cracks a noble apple. Good night, sweet Batannia, and flights of future owners bidding over thee tomorrow sing thee to thy rest.”
Bexi, about 12:30 on Sunday: “Lot 10, sold for £1,350.”
Me: “Ghost Mike.exe has stopped working.”
Chrome and/or Fimfiction have just eaten my comments (oh, for Dreamwidth and its auto save) so I'll have to do this from memory...
Which I'm quite relieved about; I'm pretty sure I'd have found a 2024-length queue very hard going.
Technically mine is Gillian Berrow, though that's cheating slightly as I met her in 2014, seven years before she voiced Zoom in the G5 film. Otherwise it's Lee Tockar, at the pre-meet before Griffish Isles 2019.
Which, for the benefit of readers who ate unaware, is an attendance very similar to what BUCK got at the height of the G4 fandom. To get similar numbers a full decade later is remarkable. The UK fandom is in a pretty good place, I think.
I wasn't at the meal last year of course so can't compare, but I enjoyed the relatively mellow, low-key atmosphere. After being in such a crowded place for the weekend, sharing food and chat with just a dozen or so good friends was very relaxing.
More that I've occasionally worried it was starting to feel a little samey. I think this year's schedule in particular did a fair bit to help on that score, though. As I'll say when I (finally) finish my own reports, I was very pleased with it overall this time.
And there we go! Thank you for posting this, thank you for joining us at UK PonyCon – and, yes, thank you for being a friend.
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See, this is why if I know my comment's gonna be a long one, I write it offline first. Of course, this only happened because of your slowed writing speed on phone, your browser likely wouldn't have crashed if it's only been open for as long as keyboard-typing needed.
Indeed, and as it was one of those "didn't plan to, I just drifted that way" sort of things, off that JowyB art from Applejack, I wouldn't have otherwise. I don't tend to put too much value in this brand of material possessions over the memories. But I still don't regret it.
That said, I'll be glad, if I have a reason to go for autographs again, that they'll be (hopefully) nothing like this. Outside of Tabitha, I can't think of any other MLP VA whose characters would collectively add up to the attraction level of Ashleigh's. Considering Andrea's didn't…!
Very cheeky, you crafty sod. Though by that logic, Jim Miller would count if he went to any cons before "The Crystal Empire" came out, as well as after.
I think Hawthorn once mentioned, from a recording of a panel she attended, that Berrow got that role because Hasbro basically recruited people around the office to do the bit part roles in the film (as well as allowing the Irish staff at Boulder Media to do some too). This tracks as a few of them are game presenters (from WotC, etc.). Berrow only did it because of that, not feeling very comfy as a voice actor, and was very taken aback when it later emerged Zoom had the most dialogue of any character outside the main ten ones. Which you'd think she'd know given she co-wrote the script…
Evidence of the film being written more by the other writer, Tim Sullivan, and her only pitching in on writing during later drafts for "consistency" once she was made the Story Editor for MYM after Pony Life wrapped? Given she doesn't have the Story By credit he and the film's two directors do, it's entirely possible.
It was, though I'm sure you can understand what with me only getting to see you guys once a year, and arriving late enough for the Friday dinner, that I'd have preferred a denser evening dinner after the con, just to have more memories to add. Not that the low-key mellow vibes weren't stimulating, but I did find such running its course by the 4th hour.
They'll certainly have their work cut out for them to not dip in density and momentum next year, that's for sure!
Was starting to wonder if anyone would spot the trend with the titles! Fitting it'd be you, bud.
I like how much mileage you're getting out of my panel slides XD
Sorry to hear you're feeling burned out at the moment, that sucks. Hopefully you can find something fun or interesting to inspire you :)
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What can I say?
It was a cracking panel with some chortler-inducing slides, they deserved to be shared with the world.
In any case, the report ended up long and detailed enough that I was glad for the extra photos to break up the con! Of the 40 photos I took and uploaded (there were a handful of samey repeats I didn’t bother with), only five of them weren’t used in these four parts.