Truancy - Chapter 4 extended Author's Note · 8:03am June 7th
This Author's Note got pretty long, so I thought it was best to put it in a Blog Post. As you can see, there is a lot.
Ponice Document
CC = Canterlot Calendar. This calendar began after the capitol of Equestria was moved from The Castle of the Two Sisters to Canterlot.
F = female
M = male
NP = nature-pony**
P = pegasus
Kiger is a breed of mustang whose coats fade to black around their lower-legs down to their hooves.
Basic unit of measurement for length is a ‘hoof,’ but there’s no exact means of conversion into human measurements here given that perception, gravity, visible light frequencies, and magic require some form of cross-dimensional standard for comparison to make a proper conversion. Hard to say if there will be one.
**To differentiate between the Earth where we humans originate and the 'earth' attributed to earth-ponies, I altered the canon term in this universe with something else: nature-ponies. In my Equish, the term is ader-poeli (ah-daer poh-eh-lee) with a little roll of the 'r.' Poeli being the term for 'pony' or 'sapient equine' and ader meaning 'nature, natural, or traditional'. MC has used will likely continue to use the more canon term earth-pony in his mind until he learns Equish and possible translations. My apologies if he may be confusing before he learns the right words to use.
I have a few 'official documentation' chapters like this one planned out, but I recently added some new purpose to it thanks to a comment from a friend about a missed 'cake joke' opportunity in the Prologue. I thought, 'I could wait, but I have a pretty good cake joke on deck... And, yeah, I could make that ponice report into more than just the document itself...' To make up for that missed opportunity, I included a visual aide. Goes to show that it pays spread out the chapter publications a bit in case someone gives me a good idea instead of throwing a bunch out there at once. I think it was a very good idea, Ulcran. That comment turned a 400-word joke-less ponice report into a full chapter which expands the world-building and has a cake joke in it.
I did a search for some extended Sparkle family. I used those -what I assume are- fan-made characters as the basis for the referenced Twilight Shimmer: Interstellar Quartz and Starlight Sparkle and North Star Sparkle.
I have no idea if that cake was actually in there or an illusion Celestia cast on herself to troll her substitute assistant. I’m ashamed to admit this, but I did not stay long enough to find out just in case she really did need help moving it along. Sorry, Crystal. But I got the basis of the joke idea from DoubleWbrother’s My Tiny Pony - Celestia, around 2:15.
There once was an insurance mare named Nice Benefits. She was a kind mare with a great sense of humor. She was the first one in Equestria to suggest that mareternity and maternity be differentiated legally. The latter refers to a period of time after the birth of a foal while it learns to walk, weans, and so forth. The former refers to the time leading up to and including the birth. The tax code had a limit on individual leave allotments and by giving both a different designation, Nice Benefits was able to help mares everywhere to be more intentional about where they went into labor. Ambulances are not a thing, and not everypony can teleport to a hospital or back home; pony labor happens where it happens, and the extra time to strategically position oneself helps greatly. Fun fact, one of Nice Benefits' fillies was named Nice Assets who was a thrill-seeking philanthropist playmare and one of the last individuals inducted into the Heroines Guild of Equestria.
Bonus Doodle
I forgot to add this to the previous chapter (Chapter 3), but the ponice report in this chapter (Chapter Four) confirms the creature with eyes was a baby smooze. So it’s fine to put it here, too. It was an employee of the Baltimare Department of Waste Management and just cleaning that particular alley. Wrong place; wrong time. It was only a few days away from retirement, too. Additionally, sometimes there are scenes in my imagination that I just don’t know how to convert into words. This is one of those. It comes to about half a second's worth of the chase action.
I love the effort and passion ln youre writing keep the quil going ;)
It's always just days before retirement, the most dangerous days in any public works professions
I am familiar with that problem, stumble about it far too often.