Highlights from BronyCon 2019: Lauren Faust: Stories and Experiences · 6:39pm Apr 12th, 2020
A/N: First and foremost, happy Easter! I hope that all of you, whatever your persuasion, are finding hope in this season of growth and rebirth.
As for today’s Highlight, I am going out of order again, but I hope that this Highlight is enjoyable. Unless something else rearranges my plans, “Vendor Hall Completion and Lip Sync Battle” will be the next Highlight to go up.
Previous Highlight (Chronological Order): Vendor Hall Completion and Lip Sync Battle
Previous Highlight (Publication Order): Mission (semi-)Complete!
Highlights from BronyCon 2019: Lauren Faust: Stories and Experiences
In which son_of_heaven176 gets to see Lauren Faust with his own eyes and hears quite a few things about MLP:FiM.
Saturday, August 3, 2019: The Third Day of the Final BronyCon
After I finished watching the Lip Sync Battle and got the signatures, I got some lunch with Dark Wind. We then headed to the Mane Events Hall for one of the non-Firebrand-related highlights of the day: Lauren Faust: Stories and Experiences.
Again, Bronze Sponsor Badge to my rescue: I got in early. I tried to save a seat for Dark Wind, but despite my best efforts to guide him to my seat, he couldn’t find me. Oh well.
On the stage was the woman of the hour herself, Lauren Faust. Next to her was a well-known name of the brony community: voice actor and dramatic-reading artist ObabScribbler (oftentimes referred to as just “Scribbler”).
Scribber asked Faust quite a lot of questions, and of course, I had no desire to take a meticulous word-for-word transcript. But some of them did reach my notes.
One of the most touching things that Faust brought up was her original plan for the CMC. Any brony knows that The Show Stoppers made the CMCs’ talents clear as crystal; the CMCs’ problem is that they keep on looking for their cutie marks in all the wrong places. Faust had intended for the CMCs to realize that their dreams may be different than what their real purpose is. For example, Sweetie Belle had always wanted to emulate Rarity, but clearly her talent is in singing, not fashion.
Scootaloo herself was deliberately meant to be flightless but athletic on her scooter. That is awesome in my opinion: The mere fact that cannot do one thing as well as everyone else doesn’t preclude you from excelling in another area.
Another interesting tidbit was in regards to Discord. In his appearance in the Season 2 premiere, John DeLancie’s voice was actually sped up by 15%! I would not have guessed that his voice was sped up at all, Discord’s lines sounded so natural.
A few more tidbits:
· During the interview, Scribbler asked when Faust first heard about bronies. Faust’s answer: When I saw positive reactions on 4chan!
· The base pony was Gen 1 Firefly, who would become Rainbow Dash in Gen 4. (In other words, Rainbow Dash was the first pony. But I still hold that unicorn Twilight Sparkle is best Mane Six.)
· The Everfree Forest was originally meant to be a portal to Equestria. (In other words, all you fanfic writers who have characters magically come to Equestria via the Everfree: you’ve been vindicated…at least in the concept.) If I remember correctly, Zecora was meant to be a zebra from our world who arrived in Equestria and thereby gained sapience.
After Scribbler gave her Q&A, the floor was open for audience members to give their questions. One audience member asked about Fluttershy; I did not record the exact question. But in Faust’s answer, Faust revealed that she herself was a shy girl. Who knew?
Another audience member asked whether Faust had any overarching ideas for Apple Bloom. Faust had originally made Apple Bloom as a blank-flank, but she did not have an arc for her yet. However, “Sweetie Belle” and “Scootaloo” were popular Gen 3 ponies and Hasbro wanted her to bring them in. Therefore, Apple Bloom joined those two, and thus the Cutie Mark Crusaders were born.
After this and many other questions, though, it was time for the panel to end. And thus I left the Mane Events Hall. However, the fantasies weren’t over yet. See you later, Equestria; hello Alatastica. Next stop: The Brony D&D prequel session.
A/N: Of course, by this point in time, the whole of the interview has gotten up on YouTube. If you want to see the whole thing for yourself, it’s right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_zykknsWAA
Previous Highlight (Chronological Order): Vendor Hall Completion and Lip Sync Battle
Previous Highlight (Publication Order): Mission (semi-)Complete!Next Highlight (Chronological Order): #finnabuse and Wonderful Eliyora
