Onto the Pony Planet--Chapter 19 notes · 12:50am Nov 9th, 2014
Onto the Pony Planet
Chapter 19 notes
A huge thanks to my pre-readers and creative consultants: Humanist, AnormalUnicornPony, metallusionsismagic, AShadowOfCygnus, bitbrony, MSPiper, MrZJunior, Forderz, Woonsocket Wrench, and my parents.
obligatory introduction picture.
Emily Post's Etiquette is a book about the size of a dictionary that tells you what you should do in any particular social setting. Although I lost my copy (not sure how that happened), I can imagine that 'semi-formal embassy dinner with construction ponies' isn't in it. Still, it's surely got helpful hints about what you ought to do.
I can't remember if I covered this before. It's my belief that the ponies aren't up to modern technology when it comes to the nearly year-round availability of fresh fruits and vegetables. Now, that doesn't mean that they just go without . . . things like jams an jellies, for example, were ways to preserve fruits for long periods of time. Dehydration is another method, or pickling. Some naturally keep for a pretty long time—apples, for example. To that end, everything that's in Dale's salad is an early season fruit or vegetable, and his fruit course is, too. I didn't wind up saying what he had specifically, but cherries, apricots, and strawberries are just three examples of fruit which would probably be available early in the year. For the benefit of anyone else who's writing a story in a similar setting, here's a helpful link:
EARLY-SEASON FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
Per the suggestion of one of my pre-readers, Featherbrain went to Siput to study the native slugs. Siput means slug in Bahasa Malaysia.
Slugs are cool. We used to have a pet slug, named Griselda. It didn't do a whole lot—you can't teach a slug many tricks—but it was still cool to watch.
They're also kind of terrifying up close.
Derpy is the mare Perry Pierce was trying to avoid, and now we know why.
EDIT: (I can't believe I forgot this!) Some of Derpy's characterization came from SaddlesoapOpera's Pony Psychology Series--specifically the chapters about Derpy, which start here.
How do you spell exemplary?
Every now and then, I like to put in little jokes at my own expense. It's of course likely that Apple Honey doesn’t know how to spell it; I don't, either. Thank heavens Google's spell-checker can do the heavy lifting for me. Apple Honey doesn't have that advantage.
A pantler is a servant who has charge of the bread and pantry. I suspect there is probably a servant who's just in charge of tea-time, but hours of scanning through lists of medieval castle occupations gave me nothing. At a formal meal, the cup-bearer would bring the drink, but that's a little too formal for Luna's private chambers.
A bottler is in charge of the drinks in the cellar.
The castellan is in charge of the castle. I had a bit of trouble coming up with the right position, since the steward and seneschal both also had charge of the servants. In the end, I chose the term I thought was the most accurate and went with it. Anyone who's more familiar with the operation of a castle is welcome to correct me. EDIT: Based on suggestions, it is now the seneschal in the story.
Finally, a cryptic note: time for Alex's kiss.
Does that mean that that was Perry that Derpy. . . "met" in A Gift?
I dunno if I deserve credit for prereading this one, considering that I didn't actually get to do any before it was posted. Hopefully next time I'll get the link before the day it goes up.
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Yes, he's the one.
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And now years later, she's threatening to kill him. The 'why' is going to be very interesting to learn.
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I can't believe I screwed that up. It was easier during One-Shot-Ober, when everyone had a link to the master document, and I only had to post one link . . .
In all seriousness, though, you guys never get enough credit for all the work you put into these. I can't ever thank you enough for fixing the hundreds of errors that crop up, or giving me ideas I never would have thought of, both in the chapter itself and going forward as well.
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She has very good reasons for her displeasure.
Woop! New chapter, Its fun to think how Luna would react if Dale managed to explain that humanity has been on the moon, or maybe describe the challenger probe or even just an observatory, He is very good with technical drawings.
th04.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2012/189/0/e/surprise_princess_luna_by_ultimateultimate-d51gzji.png
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Those things will come in time. Of course, being on the moon is old hat to Luna.
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Doing it without magic, however, would probably throw her for a loop.
To add more confusion to those jobs: A Majordomo is also in charge of the servants, and a butler is also in charge of the wine cellar and pantry.
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Chemistry is magic.
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The pecking order in a medieval kitchen is so confusingly complex, I don't even know where to start. Modern kitchens are weird enough. The butler outranks the bottler, since he oversees both the wine cellar and the pantry. At a guess, the majordomo is subservient to the castellan, seneschal, or steward. He's like an assistant manager.
derpicdn.net/img/2012/6/27/22979/full.jpg
I recall in this story there was a tea-pony. But I can't remember if she had a servant's title.
2583443 that camel toe though... ;)
Seneschal would probably be a better term than Castellan. The former is the same thing as a stweard (French vs English systems), but the latter had military authority over the estates in their care, and are generally associated with ruling a fief where the lord is not present, which was not at all uncommon in the Middle Ages through the Napoleonic Period. Many lords and ladies had multiple estates, sometimes a staggering amount (I believe one lord had something like 30 scattered across England), and technological limitations required someone onsite to manage them. Indeed, Castellans are responsible for the feudal systems in some ways, with the more powerful going from appointed servants to hereditary lords in their own right, and in at least one case the king (Peppin the Short, the Mayor of the Palace, who had the last Merovingian King of the Franks tonsured as a monk, and took his place. His son would become Charles the Great, better know as Charlemagne).
I just have to say as someone that has to deal with the media on a not infrequent enough basis that I wouldn't be surprised. I worked one of the H1N1 clinics back when that was a big thing... I envied the cleaners because they just pretended not to speak english. I had to do with avoiding questions, something I'm MUCH more adept at now. (I now enjoy messing with mass media)
Stop referencing people I've met, it's weirding me out a bit... Totally cool, but still makes me have "he knows them? That's so cool" moments.
Quite a fair bit still happening, but its good that progress is still being made....within time he could hopefully better explain what exactly happened. I think they'd be appreciative of a less than lethal weapon being the primary weapon of choice used instead of a more deadly variant.
On another note I recall in a story I read where Twilght tried to figure out the castle staff layout, and was corrected quite strongly because she missed a fair bit, but she only put in what she knew from observation.....
Is Luna's archaic speech going to throw Dale for a loop, or is Luna going to muscle through it with a high-energy dreamweaving alicornic tounges spell?
"Hold, Ambassador, and prepare to be stricken by slumber! In the dream realms, we shall disperse of feeble mortal communication and engage directly with each other's subconscious!"
"Wait, what?"
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In the future, that will no doubt point things in the human's favor . . . and is something that Dale might have to caution them about, because there are some times when the authorities shoot first and ask questions later, unfortunately.
Was it this?
"As impatient as Twilight was, she couldn’t help but listen to the complicated workings of the castle. It directly employed hundreds of service ponies, three companies of the Royal Guard, and had its own post office; the Castellan and Bailiff were responsible for keeping them all in order and performing their tasks. She had once drawn out a chart of who was responsible for what, after listening in on a similar briefing. It had taken her days, and two trips to the library for additional research, and she had been chagrined when the Castellan had, with just a casual glance at her chart, corrected dozens of mistakes, and written in an entire branch, under the watchful eye of the High Marshal, of which she had been completely unaware."
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I have changed the story, and will make the appropriate changes in the blog note presently. Thank you!
It was a last-minute addition, or else I would have gotten in contact with my medievalist friend and had her pick the right term.
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The tea pony was never given a fancy title. I think she was called the 'tea-steward' a time or two, but that was it.
And I'm quite honestly not sure what to make of that picture....
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It's probably not entirely unfair to say that they often behave like rabid badgers. I've never dealt with them myself, thank heavens. Been interviewed once or twice, but not on anything of import.
Well, I don't know SaddlesoapOpera personally. Never met the guy. But when I got into this whole 'fanfiction' thing, Pony Psychology came highly rated, so I had to give it a read.
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Well, Dale doesn't know enough of their language to be weirded out by it. He probably wouldn't even notice that he was understanding fewer than normal words. Although it is certainly within Luna's powers to put Dale to sleep (she did that to Twilight back in CSI) or to communicate with Dale when he's asleep (which she has also already done), that's probably not the best way to start a diplomatic meeting. Also, from a more technical storytelling point, she can only see his dream and guide it, so it isn't all that handy for being able to have a meaningful chat. In that state, though, he can sort of understand her. Sort of.
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Happy to lend a hand!
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1. Regretfully so, but hopefully, since the portal seems to go to that ONE spot, that they might be able to put things in their favor....
2. Yes it was. Regretfully I know about as much as Twilight did regarding how castles work and the like. And if a certain museum was open I would point at them for things related to swordplay and the like...
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The location does give some advantages when it comes to first-contact. Some drawbacks, too: I'll occasionally imagine a pony diplomatic party coming back to North Fox with all the pomp and circumstance which goes with such a party . . . and find that noone is there. They've just made their dramatic landing on a deserted island.
That was from the prologue of Celestia Sleeps In. I know a little more, but i'm no expert. Of course, neither is Twilight. Now that she's got her own castle, she's going to have to learn this stuff.
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1. They have the advantage of KNOWING its deserted, unless the Coast Guard sets up a facility there to keep it under watch......
2. I suspect shes going to learn that sooner rather than later.....but theyd have to be willing to work with her.
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All bets are off for them--they weren't expecting Dale, they weren't expecting the Coast Guard . . . they had no idea who might be on the island now. From the Earth viewpoint, whether or not there will be people stationed on the island will depend on whether or not they expect Dale to return there. Given its location, they'd probably leave once they were done searching for evidence . . . but some of the new stuff they've found might change their mind. . . .
I'm sure there are no shortage of ponies who've always dreamed of working in a castle under a Princess. Twilight's no Celestia, and Ponyville's no Canterlot . . . but royalty's royalty.
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1. Only time will tell there. They still have to TRAVEL to the bank the box is in after-all. And get the required warrant.
2. Why do I get the impression Celestia might send some prospects down to see how they handle a OCD bookworm friendship loving alicorn?
2584664 lol
2584670 Trust me, media is sneaky as all hell... But I'm smart enough that I know how to avoid most of the tricks by instinct... Plus any questions pertaining to my site are answered with "I can't discuss that, you need to talk to the media relations staff." Even the sneaky ones that are phrased as simply eliciting confirmation or opinion.
I'm pretty sure the medieval European castles didn't have tea at all.
The Dutch brought it to Europe in the early 1600's , and the British made it popular during their occupancy of India.
Though you may check some medieval asian history. There might have been a particular castle employed tea-server in Indian, Japanese, or Chinese medieval eras.
--Spade
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We get telemarketers all the time. I have just as much fun with them.
Telemarketer: "I need to speak with an authorized representitive."
Me: "I'm not authorized."
T: "What's your position in the company?"
M: "I don't have one. I'm just some guy."
T: "Surely you have a position."
M: "Nope. Just 'some guy.'"
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Of course it didn't occur to think of when tea was introduced to Europe.
Still, the English have had 400 years to make it a position. They really ought to get on it, or else fanfics will suffer.
Maybe I should write a letter to the Queen.
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I did some checking, and it seems that in the Victorian Era, and into the early 20th century, it was fashionable for servants to NOT be involved when having tea. This allowed the participants to "let their hair down" so to speak. From what I gathered, a cook or maid would prepare the tea then bring it and leave... or the servant would bring the ingredients and then leave, letting the host(ess) prepare and serve the tea. I still haven't found if there ever was was a specific tea-servant in western culture.
--Spade
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Hmm, that's interesting. Still makes you wonder what was done at a formal thing . . . I mean, would you expect Queen Elizabeth to make the tea, or would it fall to the lowest-ranking official there during tea-time?
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Honestly, from things that I've read. including novels, two things could happen. The personal servant of the host would serve -- valet for males, lady's maid for women, steward for a naval officer, or batman for an army officer-- or, the host would serve depending on the desired intimacy of the meeting. Having Tea with anyone of rank implied some sort of intimacy to begin with, even if feigned.
I could easily see Celestia as having tea with whoever, and it being a quaint affair with her serving the tea and less formal talk than found in court. Luna, hoever, might have missed tea's guilded age... or actually... with your tech base shown so far... she's IN tea's hay-day and she might not understand the implied intimacy and informality. Even formal teas were "informal" compared to a state dinner or formal court meeting.
Just some thoughts.
--Spade
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To the best of my knowledge, we have one scene where the Cakes are serving Celestia tea, which implies that the host--or servants of the host--are expected to serve the tea.
It also strikes me--from a practical standpoint--that having your host (Luna, in this case) retire to the kitchen, boil water, etc., would probably be rude, although I could totally see even in an 'intimate' setting that the servant would bring all the appropriate tea-materials to the setting, and then the host would serve it.
And yes, Luna not knowing what the current etiquette regarding tea service is a very believable situation.
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LOL
That image of Luna grousing about useless sevants these days while boiling her own water has invaded my mind.
Yeah, that's what I was refering to when I said that the host would serve. A servant would gather the boiled water and tea, but the host might serve it to her guests, or she might have a trusted servant do it depending on the situation. The reason for the valet was for loose lips and all that.
The Cakes, if I remember correctly, were catering the whole event, something other than an intimate tea-time. I'll have to re-watch that episode. That was the pheonix one, right?
--Spade
Edit:
Maybe Downton Abbey might have a scene or two of tea-time. Might draw something from that?
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Yeah, and the whole shindig was at Sugarcube Corner, and they might have mentioned it was a kind of informal affair.
Of course, there's no reason to assume that the ponies would have the same social etiquette as humans, but it's always a good place to start, in my opinion.