Chapter 1: The First Convention
Location: Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Time: 0830 hours
Date: 8-2-2013
The bus stopped at Howard Street, and off the long vehicle stepped a young man with a black T-shirt, dark blue jeans, blue jean sneakers, and a Halloween-color schemed plaid backpack. The young man was tall, had curly, charcoal black hair, a clean shaven face, and a smile that said excited. He walked over to the crosswalk, and waited for the white crosswalk light to change. The iridescent red hand changed into a white stick figure. The boy walked across the street, and continued on toward the giant convention center across the street, two blocks away.
"Well, here I am… I just wish that I had friends to go with me…" the young man said, sighing. "Oh well, everyone was busy anyway… I understand. But, here I am, and it will be the best weekend ever." He continued talking to himself as he walked toward the front doors.
"Hello, welcome, but in order to get in, you have to have your badge, you can get it in the hotel next door." A security guard said with a smile.
"Oh, thank you so much." The young man said, leaving the building and walking a block toward the tall hotel next to the convention center.
He walked into the hotel, walked over to the stair case, and took the escalators up. He saw a line starting near the edge of the wall, near the staircase and went all around the room toward a huge room for sign ups. He got around and saw the line near an open door.
"Wow, that is a lot of people." He said to himself. He went in line and waited. In front of him was a young man of 17, with dark green hair, a red shirt, dark blue shorts and red sneakers. He was moving back and forth, switching how he stood, from his heels to the balls of his sneakers. He turned and smiled.
"Hi there!" the young man said with a happy smile.
"Hi, I'm Alexander Cyn, but you can call me Alex, what's your name?" the young man said to the green haired young man.
"I'm Jesse Wyndhurst! It's nice to meet you, Alex." Jesse said, smiling. "Your first time to the convention?"
"Hehe, how could you tell?" Alex asked, smiling.
"Cause it's my first convention too. I've always wanted to go to Bronycon, and now I'm finally here!" Jesse said, excitedly.
"Nice. Hey, you want to be my convention buddy?" Alex asked. Jesse's eyes widened and his smile grew.
"Really?! Yes please! Thank you! Wow. People in Maryland are very nice." Jesse said, smiling.
"How did you know I lived in Maryland?" Alex asked.
"Just a hunch." Jesse chuckled.
"Hehe, you know, you remind me of Pinkie Pie." Alex chuckled back.
"Pinkie is my favorite pony!" Jesse said excitedly.
"I like Pinkie too. But my favorite pony is Fluttershy." Alex said.
"I can tell, you seem very nice."
"Hehe, thank you."
The conversation made the time in line much shorter. Soon, they were at the front of the line. They went in and went to different ways.
"Hey, where are you going, Alex?" Jesse asked.
"In line." Alex replied, confused.
"No, silly, you're a black sponsor, right?" Jesse asked, chuckling.
"Yeah."
"Then you can get your badge right here, in no time at all!" Jesse said, smiling. He suddenly ran over to him and pulled over to the stand.
Behind them, behind 7 people in line, there stood a teenage girl with rainbow colored hair put in a side ponytail. She was wearing a dark blue buttoned shirt, and a brown miniskirt. She wore dark blue shoes with blue leg warmers that made the shoes look more like boots. She was standing in front of a tall, brown haired, well-built young man wearing a black T-shirt, blue jeans, and brown boots. He looked like he didn't want to be either in the line, or just in this place in general.
"I'm so excited, Mordecai! I mean I'm actually here! And with my best friend! This is gonna be great!" the girl exclaimed, hugging the tall young man behind her, known as Mordecai.
"Alyssa, why did you have to drag me here?" Mordecai said indifferently, bearing the bear hug the girl was giving him with ease.
"Because you're my best friend, and it's summer! I wanted to do this with you, and plus, I don't like going alone. You of all people should know that." Alyssa said, letting go, and smiling up at Mordecai.
"…I guess." Mordecai sighed.
"Oh don't be so somber, King Sombrero!" Alyssa teased.
"… It's King Sombra and I'm not somber, I just have better things to do than be here with a bunch of weirdoes in silly costumes trying to make friends. I could be doing my homework right now… or just chilling at my dorm…" Mordecai groaned.
"First off, what homework? You said yourself that you finished all your summer homework. Which is pretty impressive for a college freshman, going onto sophomore. Second, you said you wanted to do something this summer, and this is what we're doing." Alyssa listed poking Mordecai in the belly.
"Hey, stop doing that." Mordecai said, hiding a smirk and moving away from her poking finger.
"What's wrong, Mordecai? Ticklish belly?" Alyssa smiled mischievously, still poking his belly.
"Alright, alright, fine, you win. I'll stop complaining." Mordecai said, keeping his cool, and putting Alyssa's hand down.
"Heehee! You've always been ticklish, Mordecai!"
"Shut up. We're up next."
"Yay! One step closer 'til we can see the panels!"
Alex and Jesse went out of the room with their badges on Bronycon lanyards.
"Wow… that was easy." Alex said, smiling.
"It was! I told you." Jesse laughed.
"Well, shall we go?" Alex asked, smiling.
"We shall! OOH! It's a fur-suit cosplayer of Shining Armor! I'm gonna get a picture with him!" Jesse said running toward the cosplayer.
"Hey! Wait for me! I want to get a pic with him too!" Alex said, running after him.
The two ran past a blond teenager with a messy bowl-cut hair, an orange hoodie with red apple prints on it, a pair of dark cerulean shorts, and a pair of red skater shoes. He was bumped in his shoulder by Alex.
"Oh! I'm sorry!" Alex said to the teenager, as he ran after Jesse with his camera out.
"… Rude." The teenager said as he got in line.
"There is something about that guy that makes me mad." Mordecai said, catching sight of the teenager.
"Yeah… he was mean… Oh! We're up! Let's go!" Alyssa said, grabbing Mordecai's hand and pulling him into the sign up hall.
"Thanks Dad, it means a lot to me. You're the best Dad ever!" A young woman said as she got out of the car. She was a tall young woman, who had red hair, and a sweet face. She had blue eyes, and wore an orange, black, and yellow plaid shirt, dark blue jeans, and brown boots. On the boots, there was Big Macintosh's cutie mark that decorated the side of the boots. Her red hair was tied back in a long ponytail.
"You're the best daughter ever. You have been working very hard, Crystal, and you deserve a break. Go and enjoy yourself. Oh, and I arranged for you to stay at the hotel. I'll check you in, and put your bags in your room." Her father said from inside the car.
"Really?! Oh my gosh! Thank you, thank you so much!" Crystal said, smiling gratefully.
"It's my pleasure, baby girl. Now, go and have some fun. You've got your pass, right?"
"You bet, on my lanyard."
"Great, I'll see you later. Make sure to give me a call so you can tell me all about it."
"Definitely! I love you dad."
"I love you too, Crystal. I'll see you."
"I'll see you later."
With that, Crystal went over to the Convention Center's entrance. She went through the automatic doors, showed her sponsor pass to the security guard, walked up the escalator, and smiled in relief. She had finally made it. She walked into the center and she bumped into a little boy that had black hair swooped over one eye. He wore a blue t-shirt that covered a black long-sleeved shirt, black shorts, and sky-blue boots. He looked scared.
"Oh, I'm sorry, are you okay?" Crystal asked, stooping to his level.
"Y-Yes… I'm sorry…" the little boy said.
"It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you. What's your name?" Crystal asked.
"R-Rick… Rick Heartil." The boy shyly uttered.
"Hi there, Rick. I'm Crystal. Crystal Morrison." Crystal said with a friendly smile.
"Nice to meet you…" Rick said, getting up. "Sorry that I bumped into you."
"It's fine, don't worry about it. I hope you have a good time at the Convention."
"Thanks… You too… Well, I gotta go. See ya." Rick said dashing off up the escalators to the right of him.
"He's really nice…" Crystal said, smiling. "Alright, let's see what there is to do here." Crystal said, pulling out a Bronycon Pamphlet and looking at the various activities that were happening on Friday.
Alex and Jesse came into the Center through the hotel skywalk, which was connected to the convention center itself. They had just got done with taking pictures of the Shining Armor fur-suiter, and they left to go to the convention itself.
"I can't believe we're actually here!" Alex said, smiling.
"I know! I'm so excited!" Jesse replied bouncing happily.
"Let's see… what should we do first?"
"I'm not sure…" Jesse pulled out a pamphlet and looked at it, he noticed the vendor hall immediately. "Ooh! Let's go to the vendor hall!" Jesse exclaimed happily.
Alex looked at his watch and smiled. "We're in luck, I think the vendor hall opens now."
"Yay! Come on let's go!" Jesse smiled and he pulled Alex down toward the vendor hall.
Behind them were Mordecai and Alyssa. Alyssa was sporting her black sponsor pass, while Mordecai was trying to hide his.
"Alright, well what should we do first?" Alyssa asked.
"Hmm… let's see… The Military and Ponies? That seems interesting." Mordecai said, looking at his pamphlet.
"That does seem interesting. Ooh! How about the Vendor Hall?!" Alyssa suggested.
"Ugh… Alyssa people go to the vendor hall."
"Stop whining, people also go to panels like The Military and Ponies. Come on, I want to see if they have Doctor Whooves stuff." Alyssa said, going to the vendor hall. "Are you coming?"
"I have to, otherwise you'll force me to anyway." Mordecai said, walking with her.
"Yay! Thank you! Hey, maybe we can see if they have Twilight Sparkle stuff!"
"…Don't push it."
"Sorry."
Mordecai and Alyssa made their way toward the vendor hall downstairs, with Alex and Jesse ahead of them. All of them, unaware of the real treasure of adventure awaiting them and other convention goers.