If you've ever been to a convention, you probably know the feeling you get when the organizers finally open the doors, right? That adrenaline rush to hurry inside and explore? To run over to where you want to go first before the lines for something get extremely long?
Well, that wasn’t quite what happened here. For one thing, the venue was much smaller than other conventions I’ve been to. In fact, I was honestly surprised how they managed to fit everything on one floor. There were art booths, vendors for plushies and toys, event merchandise and a handful of other things here. I think there was even a karaoke stand where people were just singing songs.
While I was slowly getting acquainted with how things were set up on the first day, Luna and Gizmo seemed to be diving headfirst and enjoying the experience. Every few steps, they were either striking up conversation with attendees that happened to notice us or talking with some artists. Heck, one of them even offered to draw a picture of Gizmo for her to keep because they weren’t expecting an actual unicorn to show up at their booth today.
Aside from the artist alley and vendor halls, there were also game rooms that were set up as well. Three specific halls for everything, including an arcade, a board game area and also cards. Apparently, there was a collectable card game that I didn’t even know about until we found some kids trading cards with one another.
It was as we were going through everything that Luna pointed out a couple of areas that were off to the side of what we’ve been seeing so far. One was labeled ‘Lunar Hall’ another was labeled ‘Solar Hall’ and the last one was called the ‘Magic hall of Magic’. “Strange. I could hear some things from inside. What could be going on in there?”
“Probably panels, if I have to take a guess.” Ryan shrugged, while watching Gizmo go to what looked like a plushie vendor to browse.
“Panels? Like the ones you would have on walls?”
Quickly, I shook my head, “Not quite. At conventions, panels are like open discussions between a group of people in front of an audience. Sometimes, the people discussing such things are rather famous and it gives the chance for people attending to ask questions or just watch and see what happens. Though, they’re not short by any means.”
“Intriguing,” she looked at each of the doors again, before looking back to me, “Which of these ‘panels’ would be going on now?”
I was already a few steps ahead and getting out the program guide the moment she asked that. My eyes started to go down the page to try and read some of the other ones. Though, the further I went, the more that I realized that some of them were not quite as ‘family friendly’ as some of the other ones listed on here. And that was just for the first day.
Problem is, I’m not quite sure if any of these would be up Luna’s alley. I mean, I don’t mind sitting in on them and watching a bit. But I want to make sure that she doesn’t feel… well, bored. It was really difficult to tell if Luna was actually having fun at all and I didn’t want to do anything that would hamper the experience, per se-
“What’s this one here about?” she asked, pointing to a section on the guide that was a bit farther down. Now, what exactly was she looking at-
Wait. There’s something here called… Cosplay Chess? That’s a new one, even for me.
I was going to ask her why she wanted to do this particular one, but the more I think about it, the more that it kind of seemed a bit obvious where she was going with this. We went through the trouble of getting dressed up, so I guess she wanted to have some fun with it today.
“We can do that. Only thing is, since it’s happening right now, we might want to hurry. Hey, Gizmo. Do you-” I was going to say, only to see that Gizmo and Ryan were nowhere in sight. Damn it, why is it that I’m beginning to think that they’re leaving us alone on purpose?
“Hey, uh, Gizmo?”
“Yes Ryan?”
“Do you think there’s something important that we should be doing right now?”
“Not really. I’m sure I told Sam that we were going to be looking around while she and Luna were figuring out what to do.”
“Okay, um… Was there anything specific you’re trying to find?”
“Nah. I just thought that while they were busy, I thought I should buy them a gift to go along with their costumes. You know, to surprise them. I mean, they’re the ones that invited us, so now’s the time to repay that kindness.”
“What exactly do you mean by-?”
“Excuse me, hi. How much for the extra large plushies of Princess Celestia and Luna? Oh really? Well, here you go then and keep the change. Have a nice day.”
“Did… you just drop a bag of bits on their table? How much was even in there?”
“Enough. Besides, that’s only half of the money I brought this weekend.”
“ … How much did you even bring? You almost broke the table.”
“Like I said… Enough.”
Much to my own surprise, out of everything we did on the first day, Cosplay Chess was probably the thing Luna and I enjoyed the most.
The whole way that this game was set up was that two of the main staff members would have anyone that attended be broken up into teams like they were being picked for playground dodgeball. Once the teams were made, each cosplayer was to represent a chess piece on a giant board while the staff members acted as team captains. The whole idea was to try and outsmart the other team as a group and have fun in the process.
Of course, when the staff members saw our particular costumes, they decided to have a bit of extra fun and have our whole match be a ‘battle of the sisters’. Which put Luna and I against each other. On the surface, this seemed okay. I mean, a friendly game wouldn’t hurt right?
Then I realized two particular things a bit too late. First, I know absolutely nothing about chess. Second, Luna can get rather competitive when she wants to be. So much so that it seemed less like the captain of her team was really doing anything and more like she was taking charge of everything. Which… was kind of scary, not gonna lie.
Luckily, the high stakes ‘match’ of ours somehow ended up being a draw. Don’t ask me why, I’m not too familiar with the rules of chess or why it turned out this way.
After that, things slowly began to get back to some sense of normalcy. At least, for the time being. Yet, even as we were getting dinner and returning to our rooms, the party downstairs did not end for a long time. Like, a few hours after falling asleep, I woke up to hearing music still being played downstairs.
Now, I know that there are some people who would want to hear the full details of how the entire weekend went. But to avoid things getting too complicated and making my brain feel like a melted tub of ice cream, I’m going to try to keep this as brief as possible.
After what felt like a trial run on the first day, we all tried to put in a bit more of an effort on planning out what exactly we wanted to do for day two. Like yesterday, Luna and I decided to do the same cosplay routine we did before because around noon, there was a cosplay walk on the mane stage (And yes, that’s what it was called). It wasn’t a contest or anything, but since Luna did go out of her way to have these costumes for us, we decided to try and make the most of it. Heck, even a lot of Equestrians took part in this event as well and based on what Luna told me, one unicorn’s costume was almost completely identical to the dress that Princess Twilight wore to her coronation when she first became an alicorn.
Funny enough, we were pulled aside by a lot of people that wanted to do photography after the walk was done. Including a few of the special guests that happened to be invited here. So, that must be a plus, right?
Anyways, after we did that, we did some more walking around and happened to partake in some other activities. Some crafts, some shopping and a few other things. Though, the main highlight for the second day of the convention was a couple of games that we decided to sit down and play.
The first one was a tabletop game called Tails of Equestria. It was like Dungeons & Dragons, but… well, different. It wasn’t a game from Equestria, that was for sure. But it was a game made here on Earth based on Equestria in the TV show. The characters we made for it were based on the different types of creatures over there and the stories that were set in it honestly would make me wonder if something like this actually happened over there. It wasn’t like DND, where there was a lot of fighting involved, but instead was a game based on exploration, problem solving and of course, friendship.
The second game we played that night was the Jackbox Party Packs… and I think you probably might have an idea where this was going.
“So, you just vote on whose answer is the best?”
“Pretty much. Though, do be warned, Quiplash has a tendency for players to not really pull any punches. Anything is considered fair game.”
“Pfft, please. I’m sure it can’t be that bad… Oh… Oh dear. Oh MY! Dear sweet me-”
Compared to the first two days, day three was a bit shorter by comparison. Not just because it was the last day of the convention, but because it was also the day that we were going to catch our return flight to come back home. But that did not mean that it wasn’t eventful. Oh, not by a longshot.
For starters, after cosplaying the first two days of Babscon and asking Luna if she was okay with it, I decided to go in normal clothes on the last day. Nothing too fancy or complex, just a simple t-shirt, jeans and so on. I didn’t want to have the dress get damaged after a couple close calls the other night and I’m pretty sure that there were some stains on it by now.
Ideally, what I wanted to do was go around the hall one more time, see if there was anything else that was going on and then check out. Most of our stuff was already packed, so it probably wouldn’t hurt to go around one more time, right?
Well… not quite. As I was just about to finish up, I had a bit of a surprise interrupt me before I could reach the front desk.
“Excuse me, darling.”
I turned around, only to find myself looking at somepony that I had only seen once throughout this trip. Remember back on the first day, where we had that young girl point out Luna and I? Well, this was the same mare that I assume was her mother. Though, it was a little strange to see her here this early.
“Yes, is… there something I can help you with?”
“Would you happen to be Sam?”
Now, my heart skipped a beat. “That… would be me. How do you know my name though?”
“Let’s just say a dear friend of yours and mine happened to tell me about you. In a good way, of course. That and you were wearing a particular dress that she asked me to make for you.”
Okay, I think things are starting to click in my head. But just to be sure, “Are you the seamstress?”
“Well, that’s one way to phrase it,” the mare replied, before extending a hoof like if someone offered a hand to shake, “I’m Rarity Belle. Owner of the Carousel Boutique, Element of Generosity and a dear friend to princesses both past and present.”
I… honestly had no idea what to say as I went to shake her hoof. Though, I had to do something or else I’ll end up making a fool out of myself. “S-Sam Axle.”
“What a wonderful name,” she complimented, “Though, I know that you have things you probably want to do. Though, I wanted to take a moment to thank you.”
Thank me? That’s… a new one. This is my only real time meeting her, so what exactly is there to thank about? “I’m sorry, but I’m a bit confused. What are you thanking me for?”
“Well, when we first came here, our little girl was… very nervous and scared about going somewhere new. Though, after running into both you and your friend, Crystal’s been happier than ever.”
“I’m happy to hear that.”
“I must say though. I would’ve thought that your friend would be down here with you too, so I could thank both of you. Would you happen to know where I could find her?”
All I did was just give her a smile. “I’ll pass along the message to her. She would be happy to hear that.”
“Really? She said that?”
“Mhm,” I told Luna, who was sitting right next to me on the plane ride to come back home, “I guess we really made their weekend and she wanted to thank us.”
“Well… that’s unexpected,” the disguised alicorn replied, “I find it odd that she didn’t think I was with you.”
“Ehh, to each their own. But… can I ask you something? Like, honestly?”
She raised an eyebrow, “What is it?”
“Did you have fun this weekend? I… know it’s weird asking but-”
Calmly, she set a hand down on one of mine and gave a reassuring smile. “I did. But if I have to be honest, I had a lot more fun being with you and your friends.”
Any sort of tension or concern that I had in that moment dissipated. All I felt was relief as I let out a sigh. At least I don’t have to worry about that now-.
“Maybe next time, we can get my sister to join us.”