BronyCon, Day 2 (part 2) · 9:33pm Aug 15th, 2019
Day 2:
Hi there! This is part of my blog series on the adventure that was the last BronyCon! If you're just joining us, you should probably start here:
Day 0
Part 1 of Day 1
Part 2 of Day 1
Part 1 of Day 2
Part 2 of Day 2
Part 1 of Day 3
Part 2 of Day 3
Day 4
Epilogue
So, what have I done so far on Friday?
Right. Met Hexfloog. Got coffee, convinced her to make her DS tell people they smell nice, and cruised the vendor hall. Got Rebecca Shoichet's autograph. That last one hurt. Four hours on my feet, waiting in line. Oof.
Like I said, I was ready for a break.
First, I went back to Quills and Sofas for a bit, and sat down at one of the typewriters, where I wrote another short little thing. It's a little bit hilariously tasteless grim, though. See it at the end of this post.
After a little bit of resting there, it was panel time. Panels are good when you're sapped by more physically demanding events. You can sit down in a panel. In fact, it'd be rather unconventional and probably rude not to. Enforced relaxation! Cons should have more of that sometimes, maybe.
Anyway, the panel in question? "The Rainbow of Light and Darkness: G1 in Perspective" at 6:45pm.
While I don't think this was a complete reprise of the "Most Metal 1980s Show" panel I'd missed yesterday, I do think it probably covered some of the same material; namely, plumbing the depths of the mists of time to review the historical prologue of where our current G4 fandom comes from, and touching on how high-stakes and dark those stories could sometimes be. This panel also took a look at the original toy line, which is a pretty significant thing whether you're into the toys or not because without that successful toy franchise none of this would exist. While I was waiting in line (welcome to Linecon! Again! But fortunately, it was in one of the halls off the the side, where we could sit down on the floor), one of the panelists passed out numbered tickets to the first 50 people in line, which they used in a drawing to give away one of the original toys they had there as exhibits. I had ticket #34. The winning number was #4.
Dang. I know the odds were only 2%, but nobody likes not winning.
Oh well. On the other hoof, when you're an adult with money, you can just go hit up eBay and buy your own G1 collectables (another pro-tip for you there). If you're into G1 collecting. Which I'm not, so it's probably for the best that someone else who might be won instead. There actually is a pretty decent collector's market for the old school G1 ponies, I'm told, so I hope it ultimately ends up in the hooves of somepony who will enjoy it.
As for the contents of the panel itself, it delved into several of the ways that G1 was surprisingly grim. There was mention of Grogar, and Tirek, and Penguin Hitler, of course. Those are all famous (or infamous in that last case). But there was also a bunch of lesser-known dark stuff from the comics rather than the TV show that made its way into the G1 canon. One that stuck with me was the explanation for why some of the ponies in the G1 TV show randomly have gem-faceted eyes. Apparently it was from a comics storyline in which ponies were kept as slaves to work in gem mines. In the darkness, their eyesight atrophied until they were blind, whereupon in an accident of some sort shards of gems became embedded into their eyes, and replaced them, allowing them to see again.
That's, uh. That's pretty metal, I guess.
Good on the writers for not shying away from controversial things like stabbing out the eyes of cute little ponies when the story demands it. But, guys, this is like... for six year olds. There are some lines. Right?
But, well, here we are thirty years later and this My Little Pony thing is still doing better than ever, so... I guess it's hard to argue with results.
After that enlightening panel, I think I went back to Quills and Sofas again for a while. That's kind of a hazy block of time, so I assume I didn't do anything too exciting.
Oh! I do know that at some point in there, I decided to stay hydrated. I accomplished this by finding a vending machine that actually accepted my cash, and using it to buy a CORRECTLY PRICED THIS TIME THANK YOU bottle of lime-flavored seltzer water. I love seltzers, so this would become an important vending machine for me, as we'll see.
Eventually, at maybe 8:45pm or so, Hexfloog texted me asking if i wanted to go get dinner with her group of friends. What a convenient reminder that I was supposed to eat that day. So I said sure. They were hanging out over by the Hall of Chaos, so I wandered on over there to find them.
After introductions and a few minutes of trying to figure out where we were going, the consensus settled on a pizza place right across the street from the Hilton (I think). We walked over there, and found that the pizzas they made were all personal-sized, which was perfect, because that's always a lot easier than trying to get a bunch of people to agree on toppings.
Also, that place had some interesting innovations to offer in pizza toppings. One of the specials they had on offer that night was topped with a combination of prosciutto, red onions, and a few other things, including... peaches. Oh, and finished with balsamic vinegar.
Okay, so, I'm pretty adventurous with culinary exploration (this will come up again later in Quills and Sofas - you'll see in a future blog post). And I'm one of those people who likes pineapple on pizza (revealing this is a calculated risk, I know - half of you are clamoring for blood right now I'm sure). But peaches? Peaches with ham and onions and balsamic vinegar, no less?
Welp. Here goes nothing.
I had to try it, because this was either going to be great, or a trainwreck. I mean, I'd still eat it either way (hunger will do that to you), but I just had to know where this would fall.
And you know what?
(actual photo of what happened - just, ummm, imagine that the hot sauce is balsamic vinegar, and the cupcake is a pizza, and the cherry on it is peach slices, and that that's Twilight instead of Pinkie Pie... so basically this is nothing like what actually happened but you get the idea, right?)
It was good!
It was really good, in fact! One of the best pizzas I can remember having in a very long time.
10/10 would try again. Recommended! 
After obtaining our personal pizzas, Hexfloog and her friends and I went back to the Hilton, and ended up somewhere on one of the upper floors. There was an exercise room, and next to it, an outdoor balcony area overlooking the baseball stadium. Some people were already there, watching what I presume was a Baltimore Orioles game. I presume this, because I don't actually know when major league baseball games run - I'm not a sports person, and know next to nothing about them, to be honest. On a tangential note, I was actually faintly hoping to see the thing the team was named after, the actual Baltimore oriole bird, at some point, although I didn't anticipate success and indeed that didn't happen (unsurprising since I spent the whole con inside the Inner Harbor and in big cities the only birds you really tend to see are pigeons).
When dinner was done, Hexfloog and I made our way back down toward the Hall of Chaos, drifting in late for the 10:15pm "Pony Drama: The Historical Edition" panel. It... honestly wasn't that exciting. It was mostly tales of cringe from years past, including perhaps entirely too much talking about that one Convention We Don't Talk About (Los Pegasus Unicon *shudder*). Honestly, I try to avoid the drama, and in that regard the MLP fandom has treated me very well.
Thank you all for that. I really mean it. No one's been an insurmountable jerk in all these years I've been part of Ponies on the internet or at conventions, and that's pretty rare in any community, let alone a fandom. This is one of the safest places I've ever been in.
So with that said, this panel was kind of antithetical to my experience; I couldn't really get into it as much as I could with others that I attended throughout the weekend.
I thought about staying for the "Better Bronies Through Brewing" panel in the same room, since I happen to be an interested brewer myself. I brew meads and ciders (some of which I may have shared with my fellow writing track staff members at EFNW last year, and might again next year - anyway come to Everfree Northwest!), and wines. But it was getting late by then, and I was tired from a long day of linecon, so I decided to call it and head back to my hotel room. If there's video of that panel, I'll probably try to catch it later sometime, like I will of a number of others that I missed.
The collapse at the end of that night wasn't as abrupt as it had been on Thursday, because I'd slept last night, but this was still decidedly the most physically punishing day of the convention for me. It was the only day (and in fact I think the only convention so far) where I actually got a blister on one of my feet. Fortunately it was just a small one and it didn't bother me for the remaining two days, in which I was able to avoid getting any more.
Which is lucky, because those next two days were also pretty packed!
With what, exactly? Well, that's the next blog entry. See you then!
Until then, though, here's the next promised typewriter story. It's another short one (the next ones coming will be longer, I promise). Also, I warned you it's kinda grim, right? Because it's kinda grim.
"That was a lot of fire," Sunset Shimmer said, shaking soot from her muzzle. "Are you sure that was really the right solution to this problem?"
"Well, I'm not sure that it wasn't the right solution." Starlight Glimmer shrugged and smiled, while scratching the back of her neck.
"But... all those orphans..."
"Ugh," Starlight sighed in exasperation. "Who's gonna miss 'em?"
There's... a story here, that's for sure. And maybe someday I'll write it.
What was that I was saying about avoiding drama, again? 
Very much so: there are quite a few rare variants that go for several hundred pounds in mint condition, and the odd one that gets into four figures. (I'm not a G1 collector, but when you go to UK PonyCon you meet plenty of them!)
The evil slaver wizard's gem throne exploding. The wizard himself was kicked into a chasm by Applejack and... well. The text implies it was an accident, but the panel makes it clear AJ kicked him. It's called "Applejack's Amazing Adventure", and I expect it's around online somewhere.
That's G1 for you.
I've convinced a couple people (Yarn included) that pineapple on pizza is indeed awesome, but peaches? That's the first I've ever heard of such a thing.
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Derpibooru has the whole sordid affair here. Applejack Wizardbane was a silly pony, and you should always beware the silly ones.