Fandom War

Day 1: The Convention and the beginning of the war

Many people called this war the "Fandom War", other's called it the "Week-long War", and others called it the " Fandom Civil War".

But to those of us who not only were there but also took part of it, we simply call it the "Brony/ Tribute Conflict". And it's not how the media says, where a publicity stunt had gone wrong and had caused the whole conflict, which did last a week long. But in reality, we fed them that because the truth would have brought the entire Tribute fandom into question about whether they were real fans or secretly a terrorists nest.

As for me?.... Well, I can say that though I participated in the event and have been hailed a "hero", I was just some Brony who had gone and one things that that most of the Military Bronies, we call them Soldier Bronies now, didn't want to either think about or even do. In fact, when the whole fandom began to fight back, it was maybe a day or two later.

And it all started when the convention started up, around the time that things seemed to get tense.

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I calmly walked along the sidewalk in my Star Wars jacket as I tried to find the convention on foot. It was my first Brony-related convention ever and I was both excited and nervous at the same time. I walked through the occasional throng of people as I turned a corner and across the way from a park, I could see the building that the huge convention was taking place at. In fact, the only people even allowed in it were people who were part of the convention and as I began to make my way through the park, I watched as I could see several Cosplayers from multiple fandoms walking through the park next to normal fans. I quickly made my way as my hands went into my jeans pocket and it rubbed the ticket I had previously bought online. As much as I could have bought it at the doorway, I  preferred not to wait and, besides, I just wanted to have some nice fun. The website said it would last an entire week, which surprised me because usually conventions lasted no more than a day or two, so it was very strange.

I passed some fans of the Doctor Who fandom and as they waved to me, I kindly waved back but continued along my path. The breeze from the wind was cool on my skin as I walked along and just as I got near the street that lay between myself and the convention, I stopped to admire all of the Cosplayers lined up nearby, a mixture of Doctors, Star Wars characters, My Little Pony characters, Tribute characters, and so many more it was hard to count them all. I smiled as I looked both ways of the car-deserted street, out of pure instinct, before I briskly jogged over to the convention center just as a few people with sercurity badges stopped me.

I took out my ticket and showed them it and they looked at what looked like a long roster before they nodded and let me through. I smiled as I ascended the small flight of stairs and as I came to the doors, I could feel excitement and nervousness coursing equally through my veins. I went through the door and a world of noise and excitement nearly blasted me off my feet as I gazed upon the convention.

Banners of Fandoms hung from the steel-beam rafters and what could be described as districts were set up for each individual fandom. As much as I was a respected Brony, I was also a Star Wars fan and as I walked along, it wasn't hard to see either of the spots claimed by both fandoms. Cosplayers moved about as I tried to avoid bumping into people unexpectedly as I slowly made my way to the Brony fandom area. I saw all sorts of people there, as well as all sorts of Cosplays, and as I walked past some Cosplayers in Canterlot Guard outfits, I whistled as I saw a stage had been set up for what I assumed to be for the Cosplayers. I continued to look around as I saw some Bronies in military uniform and I gave them some respectable space as I went passed them and looked around the booths. There was mostly merchandise of stuffed animals and toys but a few had booths involving the movies and shows on DVD's, some showed off costumes for Cosplayers, and some booths showed off the individual groups that formed the Bronies, like the Military Bronies.