Highlights from BronyCon 2019: History and More History · 10:11pm Dec 27th, 2020
Previous Highlight: The Tale of Silver Coronet
Highlights from BronyCon 2019: History and More History
In which the story of the final BronyCon comes to a close.
Sunday, August 4, 2019: The Final Day of the Final BronyCon
During the game of Munchkin, the announcement came that StableTop Games was going to close. People needed to start packing up and getting ready to leave the room.
It was a sign that BronyCon was starting to wind down.
After the game of Munchkin ended (I don’t recall if anyone actually won or if we simply had to cut it short), I headed to the Hall of the Stars for "History of My Little Pony: A Look at the Other Generations". I expected a holistic overview of the other generations. The panel, however, was focused more on the toy line; little if anything was said about the cartoons. And in hindsight, I should have remembered that; I’m pretty sure that the description in the various materials said that the panel would be on the toy line. However, it was actually not that bad; it was quite an informational panel.
As the time neared 4:00 PM, I headed to the Mane Events Hall to get in for the Closing Ceremonies. And as I approached, lo and behold, another ridiculous LineCon awaited in the overflow room. However, at least there was something to distract us this time: they had big screens in the overflow room that were showing the (then-ongoing) Charity Auction.
After the Charity Auction was finished, the audience stayed for the Closing Ceremonies. (Why wouldn’t they?) So how to fill up the remaining seats? Sponsors first, of course! So Security (God bless them) did their best to get the sponsors in first, going from highest-level badges down. Remember, I only had a Bronze badge, so I had some waiting to do.
During the shuffling of people, spontaneous chants rang in the air, mainly “BRO-NY-CON! BRO-NY-CON!” However, one chant really caught my attention, especially since it was only then that I actually picked up what they were saying:
“RAN-DOM CHANT! RAN-DOM CHANT!”
Yes, they were breaking out into a random chant…that literally said “random chant”! But what stood out to me even more was that that was not the first time this BronyCon that I heard that chant. I believe that it was prior to the Lauren Faust panel on Saturday. Whenever it was, I had thought at the time that the chant was “Random chance”, as in “Let people in at random instead of prioritizing the sponsors!” I was glad to know that I had misheard.
Returning to Closing Ceremonies, I managed to get into the Mane Events Hall. (Poor Dark Wind was stuck in the overflow section.) The waiting music was a mix of somber and heroic-sounding pieces. Fitting for the final BronyCon: yeah, we were going out with a bang, but still, we were going out.
As of the time of this writing, recordings of the Closing Ceremonies should be available. However, I did note one detail: BronyCon 2019 was the biggest BronyCon ever, at a record 10,215 attendees.
And when everything was said and done, it was time for everyone to leave.
That night, Dark Wind, thefluff, and I went to Shake Shack to get something for dinner. I don’t recall how exactly or when the topic came up, but Turnabout Storm came up, and we realized that thefluff had watched it but never saw the final part. So we had our plan: get our food, return to the hotel room, and enjoy dinner with the final part of Turnabout Storm.
Monday, August 5, 2019: The Day After the Final BronyCon
It was time. The party was over. Everything was packed, and I was getting ready to leave. Of the four of us, poor Dark Wind would be the last to leave Maryland. I said my goodbyes and headed out. Instead of schlepping my stuff to the light rail, I decided to take a taxi to the airport. (I might have saved a few bucks if I just took the taxi to the light rail. Oh, well!) And the flight back to JFK wasn’t something to write home about; everything went pretty well. And thus, I was back home in New York, and it’d be back to work the next day.
A/N And thus the story of BronyCon 2019 finally comes to an end. I apologize that it actually took longer to get the BronyCon 2019 Highlights up than it did for the BronyCon 2018 Highlights, but at least the story is now complete. And in this crazy 2020, perhaps these stories helped bring your memories back to simpler times, before COVID-19 and before “social distancing” ever became a thing. (May I never have to hear that term again in 2021!)
For me, I’m hoping to be able to go to conventions again in 2021. With a vaccine now out and being distributed, I’d like to be optimistic that normal life will resume slowly but surely.
As for now, I’m looking forward to saying a long-overdue good riddance to 2020! If it were a person, I’d say “don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord done split ya.”
As always,
Love the truth; tolerate no darkness.
--son_of_heaven176
Previous Highlight: The Tale of Silver Coronet
Condensed Version
Introduction
