Howdy folks! It's Monday, I'm home and feeling somewhat refreshed having spent my weekend at a killer convention, that's right... TrotCon 2017!

As most of you should already know, I was invited to TrotCon this year to do a panel about Fallout Equestria side fics because the theme of this years convention was post apocalyptic! I'm just gonna dive right into the recap of my weekend, because the amount of fun I had this weekend was simply unparalleled.

Friday

Friday my wife and I sauntered our way up to Columbus, OH and thankfully were able to make it in time for opening ceremonies (due to some hard scheduling conflicts the con had this year with the venue on Friday). We checked into our hotel (and somehow scored free breakfast in the process of that) and went to pick up our badges. The convention book this year was a literal thing of beauty.

Also, my wife's sweet sponsor box she received for being an earth tier sponsor was the literal best. Check this thing out.

We quickly wandered the vendor hall a little bit, and then headed over to Opening since I was a community guest. I even had to get on stage and introduce who I was, and plug my panel a little bit (and the book raffle ofc). Go to meet some sweet folks such as Robin from My Little Robin (who was also a community guest this year) and the Brony Critic (who i found out lives literally a stone's throw away from me).

After opening we went to the vendor hall again and bought two of this year's con shirt, which as you'll see below, I couldn't not do so.

Some crazy good stuff for sure. Afterwards, we made our way around and checked out some of the panels that were going on that evening as well as getting the idea of where my own panel was going to be. Watched a super interesting panel called "The Horrors of G1" which was fantastic.

Not being enterprising enough to stay up super late and also knowing Saturday night would be super super late, we headed up to our room and hit the hay for the night.

Saturday

The big day! The wife and I started off the morning by cashing in our free breakfast, which was lovely. I then headed down to the main ballroom and sat in on the panel for Heather Breckel, the colorist for the IDW My Little Pony comic books. Heather was simply put, super cool and awesome to talk to. Her panel was actually really illuminating and I really had a great time.

After that, my wife and I settled in to watch one of the coolest panels (and funniest) we saw all weekend. I'm talking of course, about Fire Team Harmony.

For those in the unaware zone, FTH is a sweet comedic cosplay group based on the designs of Halo. The group was a community guest this year and they were great to see. Their panel was engaging, funny, and super cool. Absolutely 100% enjoyed every moment of it.

After FTH, I made my way into the area near the main ballrooms and hung out selling raffle tickets while chilling and chatting with folks that stopped by to say hi. The wife colored a picture of Big Mac she drew so that she could get Peter New to sign it for her autograph voucher. She went off to another panel until it came time to head in for Peter New and Lee Tockar's VA panel.

Peter and Lee were pretty amazing guys. The chemistry between them was solid on stage, and Peter is such a class act ham (literally going around shouting "Big Red Horse!" at people). I loved it because it was great to get some insight into what they do (and also Peter giving a girl his best Orchard Blossom was pretty awesome too).

After the panel and after wandering the halls some more, we headed outside the con to get some dinner and got back in time to head down for the Fallout Equestria Printing Team panel!

I readily enjoyed everything about the FoE print team panel. The team of guys behind the coolest book printings ever were really an amazing group of guys. Zemming, yetanothername, and crew were fantastic to get to know better. I deeply appreciated them giving me a solid plug for my panel, so much. So so so so much. So if you guys are reading this, I love you guys. You were the best part of this weekend for me, and I really appreciate the support.

After the print team panel, there wasn't much else to do until it came time to get ready for my panel at 10pm that night. I'm not gonna lie, I was anxious about the whole thing. We hit the bar for a drink (which included me ordering a "Blackjack") and then back up to the room to prepare.

However, panel time came, and setting up and seeing everyone filter in, people that I had gotten to speak to and know over the course of the weekend, and several of the book printing guys showing up too.... I can't be happier about the response I got to the panel. We had 2 hours of solid sweet discussion about writing, about getting into writing, about post apocalyptic fallout ponies, and I plugged way too many author's stories that many many people thanked me for getting them new reading material.

In fact, one of my attendees (and I'm so upset that I didn't end up getting a picture with him, boo me) was a dude who came all the way from the Netherlands because the theme of the con was fallout based! He was wandering the con in a sweet Littlepip cosplay, complete with an awesome Ministry of Peace medical kit. Hats off to you sir, I hope you made it home safely because man, you were cool.

At the end of the panel, I gave away a set of books. The response to the raffle was amazing, and I'm so blessed for the fans that helped me make it successful. One quick draw, and the winner below walked home with a full physical set of Starlight (signed to boot!).

After the panel wrapped up, feeling rather elated my wife and I walked over next door to attend a little bit of the Rusty Nail Memorial Happy Hour, a drink auction dedicated to raising money for juvenile diabetes in honor of Rusty Nail, Equestria's best bartender. Drinks went for serious prices ($30+ up to a drink going for $120) and in the end the group running the charity (which included Pirate Dash) raised over $1500 for the charity. Although my wife and I had to leave partway through, we donated some money to them as well because it was just so cool to see the turnout and response to something so sweet. The event was loud, lewd, and rowdy, but everyone there was there because they wanted to give to a good cause.

Sunday

Sunday we awoke and went down to swim in the pool as a refresher to the last night's fun. After that, we trolled the vendor room some more and attended a cute little gross jelly bean game panel that was fun to watch. After being back in the vendor hall, we all had to shuffle outside for a fire alarm because someone burned a poptart in the microwave.

Afterwards, we headed over to meet the Big Red Horse himself, Peter New, for our autograph voucher and photo voucher. Peter was so super cool, and I also purchased a sweet Princess Big Mac pin.

The rest of Sunday was pretty lackadaisical, we spent most of the day wandering around the vendor room and then outside of the con for lunch until it came time for Closing Ceremonies.

Closing Ceremonies was pretty awesome. I again got to be on stage and express my thanks for having me there, and also got to leave everyone with a killer "War. War Never Changes." line.

After Closing, we hung around for the raffle which was loads of fun (wife won a little Peanut Bucker plush) and then finally headed home for the weekend.

All in all, I had an amazing time, got to meet some super awesome folks, and really was thrilled at the overwhelming response to my panel. At this point, I'm hooked and hoping to shoot for Whinny City in April, and of course.... TrotCon for next year as well. With their theme being "Under the Sea" there's a lot of fun to be had there.

Until next time kiddies, keep an eye out for a Mending Hearts chapter at some point. I know I will be. :)

-V