Asylum Story Notes · 4:00am Mar 7th, 2017
Written for the EFNW Scribblefest!
Source (possibly spammy)
Soo . . .
I thought that the contest ended tomorrow, and I was gonna do this blog post tomorrow. Shoulda read the rules better.
Probably everyone's seen the Budweiser Clydesdales, so I don't have to tell you what they are.
According to one website, they have easy-to-pronounce names, so that the driver can quickly call to them if needed. And those names are Andy, Baron Realization, Bill, Buck, Captain, Commander, Dean, Duke, Jake, Mark and Sammy, at least according to one source.
They go to shows in a semi-trailer, and at night they're generally turned out at a nearby horse pasture, to give them time to frolic around and do horse things. Probably in Equestria, that's not really possible; after all, why would the ponies have fenced-off horse pastures? The world is their pasture.
The horses are arranged in pairs, and from front to back there's the lead team, who needs to be the quickest, then the body team, the swing team, and the wheel team. The wheel team needs to be the strongest, because they're the ones who help stop the wagon.
Pressure and release is a technique to get horses to do what you want. It looks kind of mean, but it isn't, because it's how horses behave in the wild. The 'high' horse will put pressure on a lower horse, and make it move, which establishes dominance. And you can use that to your advantage, putting pressure on a horse and making it back up (thus establishing yourself as a leader) and then backing off some to let the horse come to you. I've seen it demonstrated in videos and it works surprisingly well.
And the best part about it is that it doesn't really matter how big you are, which will work out well for Nurse Snowheart. As long as she can back them up, she can get them to follow her and listen to her, because to them, she's the biggest and strongest horse in the herd.
Incidentally, I chose Snowheart because she's the one who's most often seen with Screw Loose, so it seems quite likely that she is the one who cares for mentally ill/developmentally disabled ponies.
Rick Decker, if you were wondering, is from Baby Jack Jack Attack
From the Pixar wiki
"Baron Realization" kind of comes out of nowhere, doesn't it?
Still, good call on Snowheart. (Even if her name makes me think she's related to Nurse Icehooves, Ponyville's resident OB/GYN.)
Did you know that artwork of Twilight was original a fan-drawn cover of Naked Singularity?
I think it fits pretty awesomely.
* The Incredibles
Lol, that baby sitter is utterly extraordinary.
~Leonzilla
Rick Dicker
Yeah, I recognized that name the moment I saw it, but wanted to visit here first to make sure it was intentional. Nice to see he has something to keep him busy when he's not trying to maintain superheros' secret identities under a "witness" protection program.
Of course, I'm not sure managing diplomatic relations between equines and humans is any better, but I guess it's a change of pace somewhat.
4446510
Well, it's arguably canon, even if they haven't gone out and said it. I think that Snowheart has always been seen with Screwie.
And Icehooves? You'd think that they'd have a unicorn as a OB/GYN.
4446596
I did not know that! It comes up when you google search "Pony writing."
There aren't enough drawings of Twilight concentrating so hard she has her tongue stuck out, which is a shame, because that's absurdly adorable.
4446639
Was he actually in the movie proper? I haven't seen it in some years . . .
4448840
Yeah, she might not be expecting what's going to happen when she gets the gig, but all things considered she performs admirably.
4448943
It's pretty unusual for me to put a specific name in and not have it be a reference; I'll often Google names I'm thinking of using just to make sure that they don't belong to anybody famous. And he was really the first person I thought of when I thought of a long-suffering diplomat.
Yeah, I've got to think that it's not a better career, just a different one. Let's say that he has different fires to put out.
4452200
Yes, after Bob puts his Insuracare boss through numerous walls, and again at the end of the film
4452359
Good to know. For some reason, I just don't remember him in the movie. Maybe that means I need to watch it again.
4457730
Just means hes a right proper government agent. Unobtrusive, only is seen when desired, and can make things happen as required.
4457738
Exactly!