Onto the Pony Planet--Chapter 9 notes · 12:02am Feb 9th, 2014
A huge thanks to my pre-readers: Humanist, AnormalUnicornPony, metallusionsismagic, Woonsocket Wrench, and my parents.
Daisy is one of the current top dog names for a female dog. Sarah is the #5 most popular name for girls born in the 1980s (yes, I even researched that).
In the group homes where I work, we are not allowed to give residents medicine by trickery—they have the right to refuse their medications, if they so choose. The ponies do not operate under this handicap, and are therefore free to spike Kate’s beverage with morphine without telling her.
I did try spinach and cheese pancakes, and they were pretty good. The cheese was a little melty and slightly burned, like a good grilled cheese sandwich.
I think, upon further reflection, that this is unsurprising. Pancakes are about as neutral as Wonder Bread when it comes to flavor. Just as the same bread can comfortably support a PB&J, bologna and mustard, or even cucumber and dill, a pancake can support any ingredients you put in it; it's just a binder for them.
Finally, although this has nothing to do with the story, now or ever, I have also tried oreos and mild salsa, a home-made jalapeno milk shake, and (by mistake when we used the wrong oil) jalapeno brownies. All three combinations actually turned out to be pretty tasty, although I would not recommend the jalapeno brownies unless you like spicy things.
I need a doktor . . . something doktor is—for those who didn’t guess—from Dr. Dre’s “I Need A Doctor” (feat. Eminem and Skylar Grey).
Can a woman put on a conventional bra (back-fastened, two shoulder straps) one-handed? The answer is yes. Instead of buying a bra and trying it for myself, I asked my co-worker’s fiancee, and she suggested that Kate could have turned the bra around backwards, so that the clasp was in the front. Then, she could have used her right arm to hold it against her body, while fastening the hooks with her left hand. Then, she could have turned it around so it was facing the correct way, slipped her arms through the shoulder straps, and been fine. There may well be other methods she could have used as well.
I don’t think Kate would have thought of that, though, unless that’s the way women normally put on bras. As far as I know, that’s not the usual way to do it, and it’s certainly not the way a few online tutorials suggested.
Further research on USCG uniform requirements tell me that Kate’s socks are not permissible. She should be wearing black socks. Also, for what it’s worth, women in the Coast Guard are required to wear a bra when in uniform.
Ponies as service animals
There are miniature horse service animals for persons with disabilities. They have longer memories than dogs, live longer, and can tolerate being ignored when they’re not needed better than many dogs. On the other hand, currently in the US horses (of any size) are considered livestock, and require outside stabling, and since they are prey animals, their instincts may limit their usefulness. (Paraphrased from Wikipedia) I have no strong opinions one way or the other, as what works for one person may not work for another.
Since most Coast Guard billets are in cities, they generally do not have on-base housing. Kate has to commute to work, just like everyone else.
Go off the rails is a fairly common idiom meaning to crash and burn, to malfunction, etc. I had initially used the idiom "go south," but that seemed too modern, as did "turn pear-shaped." I vaguely considered "tits up," but that seemed inappropriate on several levels.
Chanting in Arabic
There are many beautiful prayers sung in Arabic, as well as secular songs and instrumental music. Music really is a languageless medium; you can enjoy a beautiful song without any idea what the lyrics are.
When I was in school, all of the wall clocks were run off the master clock, and that was the official time for the school. There was a famous brand of them, but I can’t remember what it was. I assume that they’re still in use; they’re certainly still available.
The MEAP test is a Michigan-only standardized test. It was introduced in the late sixties by Governor Millkin, and countless Michigan students have suffered through it from then on. Back when I was in school, teachers would tell their students that if they didn’t do well on the test, they would never get into college and would be stuck with a terrible job. The test results would go on the ‘Permanent Record,’ which, we were led to believe, would be the first thing any potential employer would look at—for the rest of our lives. I’m not sure if teachers still say that kind of thing.
“I’ll call it ground. I wonder if it will be my friend?” (and the whale) is a reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
Gray’s Anatomy is the book; Grey’s Anatomy is the TV show. Many young people probably are more familiar with the show than the book.
Mane n' Tail is a real brand of shampoo for people. Don't believe me? You can buy it on Amazon, or at a well-stocked store (I used to buy it at Meijer).
What Kate had for lunch was Sweet and Sour Vegetarian Tempah(recipe!), but over beans instead of rice. I debated whether or not the ponies would have rice—IRL, although most people think of it as a strictly Asian crop, there are huge rice farms in Alabama. It certainly would grow in Equestria, if they wanted to plant it. However, we’ve never seen any evidence of rice paddies in the show, nor can I remember having seen any rice dish. Therefore, I decided that rice would be an ‘exotic’ food for them, served in expensive restaurants in Canterlot and Manehattan.
Why tempeh? It’s a high source of protein, which Kate badly needs after enduring her magical surgery (I can’t find caloric requirements for re-growing most of a hand, but I bet it’s huge). “But wait, Mr. Admiral Biscuit,” I can hear you saying. “You rejected rice because it was Asian, yet you’ve got no problem with tempah? What gives?”
This guy. For those of you who haven’t read the IDW comics, he’s one of the ‘hippie ponies’ that Rarity meets at the ‘spa.’ His name? Tempah. And he loves soy. Ipsum factum.
Camp Manitou-Lin is a real YMCA camp in Middleville, MI (near Grand Rapids), and they do have horse facilities, as well as a “horse overnight camp.” The Spirit Farms Riding Center has been around since the 60s, and they offer riding camps for the beginner to the advanced, lessons, therapeutic riding lessons, trail rides, weekend retreats with horses, and girl scout horse programs.
As it is for all the US services. However I can tell you that while that is the color that is worn by the rules quite a few people wear white socks or white socks with black tops because black socks tend to smell quite a bit more...
Unless you are wearing dress shoes. Then it would be suicidal to wear white socks. Plus there is not usually an awful odor from those.
1813280
Whenever I have to wear black shoes, I wear a pair of nice white socks under my black socks. Fortunately, I rarely have to get dressed up much.
1813358 Yeah I do that too sometimes. Mostly in port or when I am breaking in a new pair of boots though.
More laundry on a ship is nothing to look especially forward to since it is usually hanging from a bag at the end of the isle with everyone else's bags. Some isles you just don't want to walk by....
Plus when we wear dress shoes some "jerks" tend to try and check if they are dress socks only. So not too many chance it unless their shoes are just that bad. I know I would if I needed to though.
Ahem.
ALSO. I see someone fav'd a certain story of mine.
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Kate's not into classic rock or whatever the kids these days are calling it. If she was, she should have been singing Can I Play with Madness.
Well, you know, old guy in Equestria, stole your explanation for the curved beams on the buildings . . . how could I not fave it after all that? <also I kind of forgot to fave it when I read it; I thought I had, I swear
>
Oh, and I didn't mention this in the blog post, but while I was looking at pictures of the frog on a horse's hoof, I suddenly realized it's roughly shaped like a heart. And there are hearts all over Equestria. Coincidence? Maybe not....
Socks should match the color of your shoes.
As for where one wearing white socks under dress socks, I personally haven't had issue with the matter. The typical military dress shoe is murder on the ankles. I always had friction blisters from my dress shoes, unless I was wearing whites under the socks.
These days, it's the ACT you have to worry about. I don't find the MEAP that bad, it's just really boring.
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I didn't really have too much trouble with either. I took the ACT twice, just because I was trying to get the highest score in my school (I didn't; tied for second).
From what I've heard, though, there are a lot more standardized tests than back when i was in school. I think we only took the MEAP in 4th, 7th and 10th grades, and I guess now they give it every year or something.
1813654 Oh yea! Crooked timber in the Everfree. One of my more interesting headcanon things, if I say so myself.
Frogs? Shaped like hearts? Hearts and Hooves Day? Coincidence?! Maybe that is why there are hearts everywhere! They do seem to be obsessed with themselves, what with all their pony puns.
Wait, there are video tutorials on how to attach a bra? Great, now I I'm obligated to do research,., ;p
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They start giving the test in 4th grade and you take every year until you're out of high school.
Riiiight... 'online tutorials'... wink wink, nudge nudge.
Heh, but seriously though, I would never have want for anything else if I had a miniature helper pony. They're so cute!
Your theory on rice being a foreign or 'exotic' dish can be further solidified by one of Photo Finish's helpers, a pony currently named 'Powder Rouge' according to the MLP Wiki, who's look is distinctly Asian. She's not the only pony on the show with angled eyes. but hers are by far the most pronounced, and the scarcity could be attributed to them being visitors or migrants.
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I swear I'm not making that up. I've generally been more interested in women taking off their bras than putting them on. There's a wikihow article on how to properly put on a bra, as well as a few other similar links. There were also a few YouTube videos that came up on the Google search, but I didn't watch them.
Heh, it would have been a chance to use this meme.
fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/182/2/d/asian_pony_by_hyperfirewolf-d55ktei.jpg
Seriously, though, like many other authors, I've assumed that there is a pony nation called 'Neighpon,' which has an Asian culture. While it won't figure prominently in the story, there have been references to it here and there, and Lyra's exposure to it through her maestro is one of the reasons she was willing to try Dale's roast beef sandwich.
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Neighpon? I don't think I've ever heard that one before... is it a pun of 'Japan'? I have heard references to 'Japony', 'Japonyse' and 'Japoneighs', but not that one.
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Really? I used it several times in Celestia Sleeps In and this story (like the scene where Celestia is telling Blueblood how great being an ambassador in Ponyville would be: “I’d meant to nominate Lyra Heartstrings,” Celestia added. “She’s familiar with his language, and she doesn’t take offense to his eating habits. Of course, that’s to be expected; she trained under a Neighponese maestro. Still, I’ve found a lot of ponies seem offended by the thought of carrion-eaters, even in this modern age.").
I've never seen 'Japony' or any of its variations as far as I know. That's interesting. I'd assumed that the fandom had settled on various foreign names (Prance, Germane), but apparently not. For what it's worth, the twitterponies wiki gives Neighpon as the name, with Japony in parentheses.
1817082
Hm... I remember that conversation, but not the 'Neighponese' part. Ah well, I'll try to keep it in mind for later chapters.
Also, that twitterponies wiki seems like it would be a good place to borrow resources from--with permission, of course. Need a store in ponyville? Bait and Switch Specialties is your one-stop-shop for all things aquatic! Maybe that's where Coco Crusoe (Saw him in Saturday's episode by the way, right up in front and everything! Good for him!
) and Sea Swirl shop!
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I just found the wiki when I mentioned it in the comment. I've used 'treebury' in several of my comedies. I wonder if there's a wiki for fanfiction? Getting on that would be almost as good as having a tvTropes page for CSI/OPP (one of these days, someone will make it, I hope).
Yeah, I saw Coco, too. One of the things about researching BG ponies for stories is that I notice them now. There's a lot of them that I bet nobody's ever used in a story before. Sometimes I just scroll through the wiki and look for interesting ponies. Of course, that's had its share of problems--some of them have gotten official names since the story began (such as Vigilance, who's now officially Night Watch).
Boom. Finally something that I can call out!
This is actually a typical method for putting on bras. I have a few friends that told me several methods they used (I never knew why they told me these things), and this was actually popular. Admittedly, I've tried my hand at it, and I have no problem. The girls I knew just happened to be less dexterous than I was, I guess.
It's a timeless thing, only for us, they told us entering 9th grade that nothing before that point mattered. They were actually right in that case. They didn't like us.
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I don't recall any of my ex-girlfriends putting them on that way, although that's not to say it isn't a common method, just that I haven't seen it.
And it only gets more fun in college.
1817043 It's a pun on Nippon, the Japanese name for Japan.