• Mascot Event - Choosing Soon! Have A Bunch of Samples We Need Feedback On

    (Sadly, we can't bat. Good for October batification though! Even the kids at the panel agreed to that!) 
    Artist: Matthew

    Our BABScon panel went surprisingly well for how last minute everything was compiled together, and I think the Mascots were a big reason for this! We gathered a whole bunch of excellent ideas over there, but this decision is going to be a hard one, and I want the majority of you to be happy about it! EQD is so heavily built around the community, it would make most sense to reflect it.

    Right now the mascot folder has around 350 submissions (some just suggestions as opposed to actual images) and our "possibilities" folder has 70 ponies. We are still deciding if we want to straight up grab one of these or combine ideas from a bunch and commission the duo.

    At the end of the day, the final choice will be two sisters. From there, we need to decide the specifics. You can get our previous reports over here!

    Now go community! Head on down below the break and bask in glorious mascots! Help us decide what you like most here!



    Note: these are just 30 out of the 70 potentials. I've pulled most of these out as representations of specific things that many of those share. 




    Hats are a big thing here, and a lot of you sent some amazing ones. The traditional presser style idea would work, though the world of hats is vast and wonderful. So many could look great on a news pony or her sister.


    Artist: Persus anmd Lian
    2


    We got a lot of ideas built entirely around reporting the news, but a few went outside the box with other ideas. Here is a cool one with aviator gear on and much more unique colors than what we usually have on the site. A few of us really liked that!


    Artist: PuffPink
    3


    You have already seen this one. I think she set the foundational idea for color scheme on at least one of the ponies. It could always change around though.

    This also brings up the concept of FRECKLES. The panel unanimously agreed that freckles were a requirement on at least one of the ponies for the sake of maximum cuteness. LET IT BE DONE.


    Artist: PM RGBY
    4


    Another excellent hat! And I really like the color scheme. As I mentioned previously, we might not go with a unicorn in general, just for the sake of spotlighting the other two races. Unicorns tend to be pretty much everywhere.

    They do however unlock a lot of possibilities.


    Artist: Jared
    5


    While we can't do rainbow eyes, we could do that choker with the clock on it. Since EQD tends to run hourly (almost a 24/7 convention in a way), anything with a timepiece just makes sense.

    I also really like the color scheme on the first one. It could be a throwback to when we were rotated between Rainbow Dash and Trixie blue.




    It's a filly with a fang and pig tails. I'm pretty sure that concept is almost overboard on the cutemeter. We showed her first in this form and the crowed DAWWWE'd, then we zoomed in on the fang and the crowd EXPLODED. Fangs man. Too much.




    Another really cool color scheme idea, and does bring in the neat pencil over the ear concept. That and I just like her.




    These two started the "sisters" idea. I've already blabbered pretty extensively about them. This is going to be our concept for sure, and pigtails mare over there would be pretty easy to absorb right up as one of the main ponies. I don't think we'd go large alicorn body, even if it does really fit with these two in general.


    Artist: Happycake
    9


    GIANT BOWS. I like giant bows. You like giant bows? Lets do it. Either a tail or a mane is going to have a bow. I can feel it. I need it.



    Artist: Buri
    10


    This one is just cute in general. From the overall design to the color scheme and hat. I don't know how well she'd fit with the actual theme on the site, but I'd adopt her. Maybe as a third reporter pony for other projects? The only issue we ran into with three ponies was how much it would cost to commission them on things.  Money sucks.





    Another great design, and at least one of our ponies is going to be running that cutie mark for sure! Glasses may or may not be something one of the ponies wears. Maybe the more serious counterpart.





    A lack of sleep, uncontrollable excitement at random news, scrolls everywhere, and a hat. If we weren't looking for a mascot, I'd just make this MY OC. No one wants my yellow super saiyan stallion anyway! I could pull it off right? Would having a mare OC be weird?





    Unfortunately, we probably can't go rainbowy for the entire pony. HOWEVER! I do want to reflect that navigation bar at the top in some way, so perhaps a rainbow colored accessory would be good? Maybe a tail wrap? Tail wraps are in right now!



    Artist: Angel Bee
    14


    This one is just cute in general, but I could see her being a better convention mascot than a direct reflection on EQD. I still love her anyway, and she brings in some interesting potential accessories. Maybe an over-seas pony if we ever do decide to add another. We are worldwide after all!



    Artist: Quick Sketch
    15




    Another running that basic style we will probably end up at least partially emulating. It seems like a lot of you wanted this! And another variant on the cutie mark design with the wing up top as opposed to coming out of the bottom of the unicorn horn.


    Artist: FlutterLove
    16


    This is just a general interesting color/mane swap idea set. Quite a few of these are appealing. I think we are leaning toward #3 in terms of mane and tail for one of the ponies. It's either going to be pigtails or a single one in the end!




    Shes freakin adorable. So many awesome ideas all thrown into one. We probably wouldn't go with option #1, but #2 is great!

    It also brings up Accessories, which are swappable. I think the final ponies will probably have things they usually wear in every-day banners and art. 




    More good general designs for all three races. Mane and tail are going to be tough to choose from overall.


    Artist: Miss Shellah
    19


    I actually knew someone years ago who looked like this (without hooves of course). Just another neat design to include!




    These two are probably the most detailed of the bunch, and bring in some very unique mane and tail styles. I'm really liking the hyper-pigtails on the one on the right. Plus the bow. Glorious BOW! We've posted a lot of Zowie Stardust's OC's over the years, so it wouldn't be too far fetched to run something crazier than the more simple designs most people are sending.

    I might be biased due to STARSTRUCK though!





    This is pretty much the perfect example of silly vs. serious. We will definitely be going with that kind of concept for the two ponies. EQD has always been a mix of both,  though maybe a bit more on the silly side. HARDCORE JOURNALISM can only be done so much for a site that reports on a single show. We have Illustrious Q for that now! I love the design on these two.


    Artist: Zirconia Blue
    22


    Another interesting and much different design than our previous ponies. Since we are doing two, something much different could be used for the second one.




    TRIXIE HAT. I expect art of TRIXIE adorned pony in the future! I don't think she will default a Trixie hat though, unless we go full on wizard for the OC. I wouldn't mind a wizardy OC!


    Artist: Miss Shellah
    24

    Another unique and very cute concept! I really like the mane color the most here. That sea-blue is peaceful.




    Someone actually mentioned the name of that hat at the panel, and I've already forgotten it. I've always liked it though, so its totally a possibility. The pony is cute too! Though she might be a bit too bright.


    Artist: Whitebeard
    26


    More unique OC types! Again, we aren't required to go with the dark and magenta scheme. It's just one a lot of people seem to favor 




    And then Couch Crusader sent us a colt. Wow Couch Crusader. What a colt artist.


    Artist: DashyDo
    28


    I really like the spikey mane design! We only got a handful of those, so I thought I'd include it here.


    Artist: Affinitypony

    Another interesting set of characters. I'm leaning toward the one with the purple mane and orange magic as my favorite. Halloween colors are the best.



    Here is a super interesting concept if we could handle three OC ponies. One for each major category (with some slight variations), one of each race. It's just really hard to have so many characters for things! We aren't totally against it though, so you never know.

    I love the pegasus too.



    And that about covers it for now! We really need feedback, so hit up the comments with a number and whatever you think of each concept and idea!