Bookmark's Galacon 2016 Adventure

        Galacon 2016, that’s where I decided to go. From what I’d read and seen the day before, this place would be crowded with Bronies for the next two days. Bronies… people who knew about me, about my kind, about my world. At least, judging by the posters, that’s what I hoped. And ironically enough, I had arrived just in time.

        Actually, I think I got off with a bad start here. By now, anypony—or anybody—must be horribly confused. Let me start again, this time by introducing myself; that would be the best way to make all of this much more clear, I think. My name is Bookmark, and I am—or rather was—the royal bookkeeper for Her Majesties Princess Celestia and Princess Luna many, many years ago. Chances are you have never seen me in the actual show, because I always worked in the background,  with my nose buried deep in piles of books, as I liked best. Through some terrible accident I ended up right here in this world, in this country called… Germany. In Germany, I had the strangest experience I have ever had, but I will tell you all about that in the next pages. You see, as I am getting older and older, I decided to write down these experiences. They are what shaped me throughout the years, and maybe someone would find them amusing. Wouldn’t that be something?

        That’s all you need to know right now, dear reader. And, to be completely honest with you, it is actually all that I can remember. I am certain more pieces of the puzzle which is called my memory will fall into place; as I tell you more about my adventures at Galacon. So for now, let us start off with what actually happened there, shall we?

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        My oddities at Galacon didn’t even start at the con itself. I remember being  very uncertain and doubtful, and many nervous questions shot through my mind. Wouldn’t I look extremely weird? Raise a lot of eyebrows? Maybe even get laughed at? But as I came walking out of the station, I noticed many other people dressed up and cosplaying as characters from the show, or with colourful pony t-shirts with various jokes and funny pictures—or just Derpy’s face, which is a joke on its own, isn’t it?

        I more or less incidentally teamed up with a group of cosplayers, and together we walked to the venue. I was still a little bit shy, but they were very nice, and upon saying that I haven’t been into the fandom for that long yet, they welcomed me to the herd. One of them had an exceptionally outstanding costume; he looked like Big Macintosh, but as an alicorn. Princess Big Mac, who would have thought that would happen? Only in one’s dream, I’d say. He certainly played his role well; because before we arrived, he had stopped to buy a few dozen apples, which he had then stored inside the wagon he was pulling. It’s funny how you could see everyone who looked only a little like a Brony heading towards the centre of Ludwigsburg. I waited at a traffic light with both cosplayers and more ordinary looking people. The “normal” ones didn’t make any remarks, but I am certain they secretly wondered what the hay was going on in their town.

        After just a few minutes, a large, elegant building came into view: the Forum am Schlosspark. But actually, my gaze was captured even more by the line of extraordinary people standing before it. There were folks of many ages: teenagers, students, middle aged men—and to my surprise, even some seniors. All of them with pony t-shirts, ears, tails, hooves, cutie marks, horns, wings, plushies and base cannons. But the ones that stood out most were the fursuits; people who looked so much like ponies in their complete suits, one couldn’t possibly tell the difference. They got the manes right, the tails, the eyes, and they even had hooves which clip-clopped on the stone plaza.

        Once the doors opened, I received quite a shock as the first Galacon visitors got shot at with confetti cannons and streamers. Of course, it was Canni’s birthday after all. After the cannons, the hallway became lined with vendor stalls of all kinds and sorts. I took a long moment to leaf through a pony-sketchbook at one stall. The next stall sold posters and vector art, the one after that embroideries, the one after that one plushie ponies, then pony t-shirts, then paintings and—believe it or not—some even sold glassworks. Everything which had only a tiny bit to do with My Little Pony, could be bought right there. Inspiration overflowed me, but I was even more amazed by the realization that the pony fandom certainly houses some very talented people.

        A bell rang through the hallway; it was time for the opening ceremony. Everyone streamed into the enormous theatre, which served as the main hall for the event, and in no time at all, everypony was inside. Suddenly,  a tune started banging through the speakers. It was ‘Make a Wish,’ and the crowd instantly sung along, brightly and cheerfully—me included. “Make a wish, it’s your birthday, make a wish it’s your birthday party. Make a wish, it’s your birthday, make a wish it’s your birthday party”—it couldn’t have been more suitable, and I realized the party had really started now. A few words of welcome were said and then the guests of honour and the community guests trotted on stage. Amy Keating Rogers, Rebecca Shoichet, Brenda Hickey, Julia Meynen, Dustykatt, VocalScorePony, AnimatedJames and Anneli Heed; they were all right there, live on stage. Anneli Heed certainly stole the show with her snowy white dress—and with good reason. The lights dimmed, music started playing, and Anneli sang ‘Lullaby for a Princess.’ The whole theatre was silent at her enchanting performance. She had an amazing and beautiful voice, which grabbed both my eyes and my ears. For a moment, my thoughts drifted away on that beautiful sound. A standing ovation was hers, and I think she had absolutely earned it. Things were really looking like a party then. There were friends, there was music and there was even a nice, white birthday cake with little

fondant shapes of the mane six on it; and Canni Soda stood on the stage to take the first bite.

        When the opening ceremony was over, I found myself outside the main hall again. I looked around helplessly, because I did have an idea where to go, but I didn’t have any idea how to get there. I had a map, of course, but I was (and still am) terrible at navigation. Suddenly a familiar sight caught my eye. It was Daring Do! Well, not exactly the real Daring Do, but a cosplayer, of course. I had always been a great fan of Daring Do, ever since I heard of her. By the way, there is a similar character here, Indiana Jones, I believe fans call him—probably just an impostor; nothing special. Anyway, I couldn’t help myself, I simply had to make a remark at his costume. He seemed to be lost as well; can you imagine? Daring Do, master treasure seeker, lost at a convention? Neither could I. But we combined our strengths—and navigation knowledge—and eventually we both found what we were looking for, for me it was “audiobook productions” by Darkside Narrator.

        It was a very good panel. Darkside Narrator certainly knew what he was talking about. He explained shortly but powerfully the fundamentals of dramatic reading like tempo and volume. He also played some examples of different voices, including extremely high ones; very impressive how he did those, and a bit funny to be honest. Software and microphones were covered as well. It was quite surprising to me how little you actually needed to start making audiobooks yourself. Actually, I myself like to call me kind of a writer, so as much as this panel amused me, it also lit a spark of inspiration deep inside. Again I couldn’t help myself, and I impulsively raised my hoof to ask Darkside Narrator whether I could read aloud a fragment of my own work. Next thing I knew, I found myself reading an intense piece of narrative to the attendees. I did capture the feeling and excitement of the scene in my story, although I could have read a little bit slower, and the different voices needed a bit of tuning too. But the bottom line was: I had the courage to read aloud—even though I was sweating like a yak in the desert—and I enjoyed it very, very much. Who knows, maybe in the future I will start making audio-stories as well… maybe.

        After the panel, I decided to have a bite. I sat down on the terrace, enjoying both a salad and the beautiful summer weather, when I spotted another Daring Do. Excitement filled me up, as this one looked even more like my real idol. Just as I reached for my autograph book, I noticed something strange about her; Daring Do was walking on just two legs! Of course it wasn’t the real Daring Do! It was a fursuit, however a very realistic one. I decided to take a picture then, as an autograph wouldn’t have much use.

        Next, I went to attend another panel again. It was the comic panel, given by Brenda Hickey. I do enjoy a bit of drawing from time to time, so I was curious about how a professional would do that, and how she would turn her drawings into a comic book. Brenda Hickey certainly was a professional, I can say. She told the audience all about the exceptional art of drawing comics, her voice filled with excitement and enthusiasm. That day I learned about raw sketching, pencil drawings, blue lines, inking, colouring, and how you should never fuss about deadlines too much. She even showed us a rejected sketch, and how she had altered it so it looked much better. After the presentation, there was an opportunity for the audience to ask questions, and I am certain that all of them got inspired by this great artist.

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        Yes… Now that I think of it, I do remember some events that happened before Galacon. In fact, I think I know exactly what caused my interdimensional journey: it was that blasted meteorite.

        One faithful day, princess Celestia’s pupil—princess Twilight Sparkle—and her assistant Spike came tumbling into the throne room, dragging a large chunk of stone with them. I was just arranging and rearranging some bookshelves right next to the throne room, so I heard exactly what they said. I wasn’t spying, of course, just a tiny bit curious. Besides, princess Twilight’s voice was so loud with excitement that even an old stallion like me could hear it.

        She told princess Celestia that Spike had found the rock after they had watched a meteorite shower together. Excitement washed over princess Celestia’s face as well, as she told Twilight that she didn’t have that many meteorites in her collection of magical artefacts. After some more talk, they left the throne room together, probably discussing where to display the meteorite, or how to study it further. Only Spike was left behind to guard the thing.

         I couldn’t withhold my curiosity any longer; it pushed me into the throne room, until I stood next to the rock. Spike saw me, and I had a little talk with him. The purple dragon proudly told me how he was the first to have found the meteorite and how he had dragged it all the way to Canterlot. I think he was exaggerating a bit there, because the meteorite itself was quite big; almost as high as a full-grown stallion’s withers, and twice as broad. Spike’s amazing achievement of strength didn’t seem very truthful to me; I think he probably had some help from Twilight Sparkle’s magic.

        There was also a faint, green shimmer on the black rock, and upon asking Spike about it, he told me it used to shimmer brighter, back when the meteorite had still been hot from its journey through the cosmos.

        Then there was a silence, and I think—no, I know—Spike pondered over what he had just said. He looked at me again, and I could see the spark of an idea lighting up his eyes. He inhaled deeply, and let out a bright, green flame, covering the meteorite in a fiery blanket.

        “Fool of a dragon!” I remember yelling at him on his reckless and impulsive action, or maybe I yelled in fear, or perhaps in surprise—I don’t quite remember. The stone started shimmering brightly, lighting up the throne room all by itself. Brighter and brighter the meteorite became, to the point where it blinded me, and I couldn’t look at it anymore.

        Yes, that it did. But what happened next… I cannot recall now. Perhaps later. I suggest we continue with my Galacon adventures. I remember those much more clearly.

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        The sun shined bright and intense at the day of Galacon, so I went outside for a few minutes to get some fresh air. While basking in the light and listening to a few guys who had installed themselves on the plaza to form a makeshift band, I spotted Vinyl Scratch. When it comes to music, I have a very broad taste. Simply put, I could be good friends with both Octavia and Vinyl, but you can only dance the shuffle on electronic music… By now I had been quite more confident in talking to random strangers, so I spontaneously asked Vinyl Scratch if he had any dubstep beats left in his base cannon. Before I even realized it, I was dancing the shuffle with Vinyl; prancing and jumping to and fro, tapping our hooves to the beat and shamelessly swinging around, filled with the ecstasy of a real dance-party. Who in Equestria or on earth can say they have done the same? Very few people, I reckon.

        Impressed by all of the cosplays I had seen so far, I decided to head over to the cosplay contest, once again in the massive theatre. I took my seat and let myself be amazed by the many Twilight sparkles, Fluttershys, Rainbow Dashes, Applejacks, Pinkie Pies, Rarities and many more characters from the show. Apart from just the costumes, the contestants also did a little performance to please both the crowd and the jury. Princess Luna performed the song, ‘Daylight's End’ before transforming into Nightmare Moon— Quite shocking, I would say. If that would have been the real Nightmare Moon, I am certain the crowd wouldn’t be cheering at all. Octavia told us a story about her fights and struggles with her annoying roommate Vinyl Scratch; very comical and well-thought of. I bet it wouldn’t be easy for a classically schooled cellist as she to be living next to a loud dubstep-loving pony like Vinyl. The next performance which stuck in my mind was one with Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and Spike. Not the real ones, of course, but extravagant cosplayers, complete with horns and enormous, feathered wings. They did a long play about how the fandom thought about the princesses, recited by Twilight Sparkle herself. Another outstanding play was the one with Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity. They re-enacted the exact same scene from the episode, ‘Suited for Success,’ where they all gave Rarity tips and preferences for their Grand Galloping Gala dresses. Just like in the show, the ponies seemed to know exactly what they wanted; and just as in the show, Rarity tried her best not to collapse underneath the stress and the ridiculous requests from her friends. I mean, streamers? That pink pony had a terrible taste, if you ask me.

        Have you ever heard of Pony Jeopardy, dear reader? It was one of the games they organized at Galacon, and one I decided to have a look at well. Pony Jeopardy was a game where several contestants had to  collect points by answering questions. Firstly, one selected a category and the amount of points for the hidden question; the higher the points, the more difficult the question would be. Then the question was revealed, and if the contestants thought they knew the answer, they had to smash their buttons as quickly as possible to be the first to answer the question and claim the points for their own. I really enjoyed watching the contestants put their knowledge of the show to the test and trying —quite fanatically—to become the victor. But suddenly, something went wrong, and the showrunners weren’t able to display the questions and points in English anymore. However, they still decided to do another round with new contestants, and even though my knowledge of the German language was a little limited, I decided to join in. I think I looked a little bit foolish there on stage, as I had a hard time translating the questions into English in my mind. But eventually I had one question right. ‘Training ponies is his game,’ the question was, and the answer was of course: ‘the minotaur Iron Will’—although I had a bit of trouble remembering his name, for I was a bit twitchy. I didn’t win with this one question, of course, but I thought it was still a fun game both to watch and to play. Next time I’ll do better though.

        I was really, really getting the hang of this. With this I mean Galacon, the ambiance, the openness and cheerfulness of people; it worked quite contagious, and I loved it. I myself discovered that I got more extrovert by the hour, as I had already proven at the voice acting panel and Pony Jeopardy. So against all logic, against all reasoning, and against all the bashfulness that still lurked inside of me, I went off to explore the karaoke room. I never, ever, ever would have thought about singing a karaoke with other people before, but I still did it. And you know what? I loved it. My singing wasn’t all that good, I admit, but luckily even the people who weren’t holding a mic chanted merrily along, masking my own awful performance. I was singing ‘At the Gala,’ and thanks to the help of all the other Bronies inside the karaoke room, it sounded marvellous. Other songs were played too, by the way. Not only classic songs from the show, but also fan-made songs got great attention. I didn’t know all of them, but I learned about a great many pony songs that day that I would certainly check out in the future. For an outsider, it must have been quite a sight: a room filled with people singing these high pitched and cheerful songs, the feeling of solidarity and shameless cheerfulness flowing around freely… It may have looked like an ordinary karaoke, but for me, it was something magical.

        At the karaoke room, I met two girls. One of them was dressed up as Pinkie Pie, and the other as Maud Pie, and now that I think of it, the resemblance was striking. They were really nice and friendly, and they told me all about their home-country Norway. Norway sounded like a beautiful place to me, the way they spoke about it. I spent a long time talking with them, and in the end, we went and watched the cosplay award ceremony together.

        Through Pinkie and Maud, I got to know a whole bunch of other great people. You see, Pinkie and Maud were actually part of an even larger group of Norwegian friends. One of them had a nice moustache and goatee combination, one had a giant Twilight Sparkle plushie signed by Lauren Faust herself, and another one had a pair of glasses and a water-coloured Rainbow Dash t-shirt. It’s such a shame I can’t recall the name of that last Norwegian, because to be honest, I don’t value names that much; I value character more. Although that might be a little of an oddity of me, of course—names do come in handy when you want to stay in touch with someone. Sometimes, I wish all of us would have Equestrian names, so I could at least have a hint to what people are passionate about. But anyway, we decided to have dinner together at a restaurant my Norwegian friend had discovered. On the way there, however, I received an unexpected surprise. 174UDSI, one of the DJ’s who would be playing that night, passed us by. I find his music awesome and I had actually learned to shuffle on his tunes. I think I made a bit of a fool of myself, being such a big fan; but I did get a photo and an autograph from him, so my evening was already amazing!

        And my evening would get even more amazing, because I was intensely looking forward to the gala party. I didn’t have any formal clothing with me, but that didn’t matter. My new friend was going to the party as well, and told me he was quite the raver himself. We went back to the venue together and upon entering, I noticed something different. The vendor stalls were all closed now, and people were walking about, some were wearing fancy garments, and some were casual. It really looked like there had been a large break-up, or a war over fashion in the otherwise so solidary and cohesive Brony fandom. I knew that wasn’t the case at all, of course. However two different tastes and two different interests,  in the end, they all wanted the same thing: to have a great evening. That’s why we could also see formally-dressed people going in the same direction, towards the party hall. I stepped inside, heard the music, started smiling, and didn’t stop. The music was perfect; hard electro house with a splendidly danceable beat. It was impossible not to at least try to dance a bit yourself, and I had a great time practicing my moves and sometimes even teaching other Bronies to shuffle a tiny bit. Filled up with the ecstasy of a great party, I noticed how the laid back and open atmosphere hadn’t changed a bit. Everypony on the dance floor had a great time, and you could literally go dance beside a random person, look at each other, smile, nod, and then continue dancing. It was beautiful.

        After a while, the music changed entirely. MC-Arch came on stage and performed a couple of rap songs for us all. Personally I’m not a big fan of rap, but he was still very good and it was a nice break from the intense dancing too. But after his performance, the electro—and the dancing—continued more intense than ever. Many, many minutes of Jumping, shuffling, prancing, t-stepping, and a couple of other nameless improvisations later, the party was over. Time certainly flies like the Wonderbolts when you’re having fun. I said goodbye to my Norwegian friend and took a train to the hotel, eagerly anticipating the next day of the con.

        But then, something extremely stupid and even a bit dangerous happened, although I didn’t realise it then. I took the wrong train and ended up completely alone on a rickety, gloomy train station somewhere in Stuttgart. I looked at the sign and jolted; the next train would leave in 81 minutes! I wasn’t going to wait that long on this Celestia-forsaken station, in the dark… Alone… I tried to keep my wits and looked around, and to my relief, I wasn’t alone at all. There was one other guy, looking rather lost as well and talking to his telephone. Unfortunately, he was speaking German, but I had to do something, so I tried my best at speaking German and explaining my situation. He understood, because he had the same problem, and what was even better; he spoke my language. Together we walked out of the gloomy station and he called for a taxi in German. I’m so glad he did that for me, and now that I think about it, he might even have saved my life. In the car, he explained to me that the neighbourhood we landed in just then, was a bad one. Chills ran down my back as my imagination ran wild with whatever could have happened or whatever I could have encountered at that dark station. I was probably exaggerating, but still, dangerous is never good. In the end, I survived my way back and slept soundly through the night, keeping dangers and creepy fantasies far away.

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        Yes, that was indeed quite a desperate moment there. Writing this down, I suddenly remember another forlorn memory about my endeavours before Galacon. A pony’s brain is an odd machine, I presume; and an old pony’s brain, a rusty one. So I will tell you all I can, and all I know, and all I want, about the things that happened after that shimmering meteorite.

        It took me a long while before I could see anything again. My ears, however, noticed the change clearly. Strange noises dashed through the air, and even without seeing, I could tell that I was no longer inside Canterlot Castle anymore. I heard nameless birds singing their names, I heard the wind whispering through shrubs. But the sound I remember the most, the hideous sound I’m still having a difficult time with, was an awfully loud whooshing, like a pegasus flying by right over your head, again and again and again.

        Slowly but steadily I regained my eyesight, and discovered that I was lying right in the middle of a field. A grassy field on a rolling hill it was, lined with a fence and bordered by other meadows, wheat fields and… the highway (or autobahn, as I would later learn to call it).

        There were other ponies standing nearby too, although they looked very different from the Canterlot citizens. These ponies were all completely black, and looked quite dreary. I tried to talk to them, but to no avail. Either they ignored me, or couldn’t understand what I said, for they just stoically continued eating their grass. Strange creatures they were, those ponies. However, the strangest creature I had yet to meet, and things would go downhill from there fast.

        A figure came galloping right at me—if one could call it galloping. Upon coming closer, the figure revealed itself as a creature, almost impossible to describe using words alone. It had four legs, but used only two of them to move. With the other two he grabbed a pitchfork and started waving it menacingly at me, screaming and yelling things I couldn’t understand. Now that I think of it, he probably thought I was a runaway pony from a neighbouring farmer, trespassing on his land. When the farmer almost closed the distance between him and me, my fight or flight instinct awakened, and—completely panicked— I fled in the direction of the highway; a very poor decision.

        Those terrible machines, those ‘auto’s,’ which rode on the highway were stupidly fast. Faster even than trains, faster even than pegasi, and I daresay, maybe even faster than the Wonderbolts themselves. So I made a desperate attempt to cross the road, trying my best to dodge the machines and avoid getting hit. Surprisingly enough, they seemed to try to dodge me as well, which resulted in more than a few moments of confusion… and brushes with death.

        I still don’t know how or why, but I made it. Well, of course I made it, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this down.

        Eventually I found a path through a small forest. The night covered the day, and when darkness had completely clouded this awful world, I reached a town.

        But I wasn’t happy at all at finding a settlement like that. A town would only mean more of these ‘people,’ more of these ‘auto’s,’ and Celestia knows what else. I couldn’t be more right. Although it was deep in the night when I arrived, there were still some auto’s and still some people who stopped, stared, pointed, and said incomprehensible things. I truly felt lonely and scared, and didn’t care about anything anymore. Not about the machines, not about the people, and not about that strange language, spoken and written all about the blasted town.

        But somehow, one sliver of consciousness remained within me, which noticed a familiar shape on a poster, pinned on a board. That shape turned out to be a pony! Who would have thought! And not one of those black, dispirited creatures I had met before, but a real pony; brightly coloured and smiling. My heart raced in shock, and questions filled my mind. Was there another pony in this world? Or in this town even? Was she able to help me?

        Luckily I had read a great number of books about linguistics and the general construction of all languages. So with the biggest of efforts and the longest of moments, I eventually deciphered the poster and found out the meaning of it and the location. Galacon, a convention for My Little Pony fans, to be held at Forum am Schlosspark in Ludwigsburg, Germany.

        I’m terribly sorry, dear reader, my memory is getting quite clouded again. I know something exciting happened after that, but I can’t quite remember. Let us continue with Galacon. The rest of the history will come, I’m sure of that.

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