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AlwaysDressesInStyle


No way of knowing, where we'll be going, our adventures never end.

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Dec
12th
2020

Story Notes: 16 (Ploomette Part 3) · 1:30am Dec 12th, 2020


Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/395834

With this update, we conclude three chapters and 34,000 words dedicated to Ploomette and worldbuilding. I think I've mentioned this before, but I write in MS Word, coding it as I go (bold, italics, strike throughs, etc). On my end, I'm not breaking Ploomette into multiple chapters, so the combined chapter comes to 100 pages in Word. Her chapters alone would be the third longest thing I've ever written if it wasn't part of this fic.

I really hope everyone's enjoyed these past three chapters. Ploom's role in Mr. Jones Goes To Equestria (and here in 16) almost didn't happen. Originally, another toy-specific pony (Twinkleshine) was supposed to be the sixteenth and final pony. Except Twinkleshine isn't a toy-only character (technically, neither is Sunny Rays, but she's a background character while Twinkleshine is one of Twilight's 'friends' from her Canterlot days). That left a gap, and since I was sticking to ponies that had been made as brushable toys, Ploomette was my next choice. As I mentioned in the story notes blog for her first chapter, I already had a background for Ploomette as Star Catcher's younger sister, and next in line for the Pegasus Duchy in Cloudsdale. Once I made the decision to continue Business Trip it made sense to include her, so we could explore the inner workings of the continuity in depth.

If one were to ask what I'm trying to accomplish with this series of stories, the answer is quite simple: give some neglected characters the personalities they deserved to have since day one. It saddens me how many toy-specific characters have been ignored (or worse, despised as 'imposters') by the fandom. I want to change that.

At her core, Ploom's a fun-loving little pony. She knows how & when to turn it off and go into serious mode though, and she takes keeping her little ponies safe (even if she's younger than most of her subjects) very seriously. When you get to know her, you get to see behind the façade and see the silly pony underneath the layers of masks she wears to hide things. Since I dedicated so many words to her, I wanted her to be a happy pony. Somepony you want to spend time with (or in this case, reading about).

Her sister, Starcatcher, is the serious one. Unlike her sibling, Ploomette hasn't taken her studies quite as seriously, as she knows she's unlikely to ever be in a position of real authority. Except, suddenly, now she is.

Keep in mind she's a teenager as she's setting things up, and it makes her accomplishments all the more impressive.


Source: Maps (edited by AlwaysDressesInStyle)

Above we see the location of the Equestrian Conulate-General in New York City. It's as close to the United Nations as they could get. I have no idea what, if anything, has been built on this parcel of land. Microsoft Maps has it as a vacant lot, and this is where the ponies have built their consulate.

Below is where the portal is located in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Where else would it be located other than someplace called Friendship? Also, there are plenty of cranberry bogs in the vicinity. Be careful to avoid wolf spiders... I understand they run the bogs.


Source: Maps (edited by AlwaysDressesInStyle)

Ploomette knows nothing about cars. The Williams' transits are as follows: Molly has a bright red 2007 Mustang, Danny has a lifted burgundy 1994 Chevy pickup, and Megan's got a green 1996 Ford Bronco. I'm writing this generically to avoid having to deal with any real life figures/politics, and as such this scene's always going to be almost five years before the events of Business Trip. If we assume that story took place in October 2019, when posted, Ploomette's first excursion to Earth would be taking place circa April 2015.


Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/2284053

While not named in story to avoid comparisons to real-life figures, Monaco is the tiny nation that actually took Equestria seriously. The Monégasque prince and the French president really get the ball rolling here. Monaco might not be able to get Equestria into the UN, but France certainly can. As such, the Equestrian Embassies in Monaco and France will be the first to open, and they'll be granted the first two embassies in Equestria. To put this in perspective, Monaco has an embassy in Washington, D.C. and a consulate-general in New York City. The U.S. has no diplomatic presence in Monaco at all.


Source: https://www.deviantart.com/skior/art/ploomette-837835825

As for her human measurements, I'm not going to claim to be an expert on this. But the mental image I have of pegasi is they're petite. I've seen it theorized that they have hollow bones like birds, and if so, they'd be incredibly light as humans as there wouldn't be as much mass to convert. So I guessed accordingly, and I hope I'm not too far off the mark.


Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/2021388

The reason for the absence of naming real life people is intentional. We're not going to get into politics. At all. The most I will say on this is, the only main American political issue that would be particularly relevant to ponies would be anti-immigration policies that apply to ponies too. It's up to the reader to determine just how strict these policies are - do we have an ideal situation where ponies and humans alike can travel through the portal at will, a quota system where X number of ponies are allowed into the USA per year, or do we have an even exchange: one pony per human? The portal's in New Jersey (meaning all immigrants from Earth to Equus or Equus to Earth have to pass through the USA), so how are other countries reacting? What we know is this: the portal's still open. Was there an attempt to shut it down completely? Once again, that's up to the reader to make that decision. Do I have political opinions? Of course! Do any of you care to hear about those opinions? I certainly hope not. My goal is to write this from a neutral standpoint, and let all of you decide on what struggles our ponies have had to go through to get here & stay here (if any).

The only other regulations that have come up are related to zoning and building permits, which is at the local level. Every jurisdiction has their own rules regarding what can be built, and where, but I'll try to skip over that when we get to the Mareiott. Thankfully, they're remodeling an existing building as opposed to building one from scratch (as was done with the consulate-general in this chapter), so while there are still regulations that need to be followed, they won't be quite as intrusive.


Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/6542

The full list of the (current) stained glass windows in the Equestrian Consulate-General:

Ploomette flying around the Empire State Building (note, this was done against her will; she didn't want to be memorialized in stained glass; regardless she loves the final result)
Fillies from all the tribes (including a younger Electric Slide & Petunia Paleo) singing carols in front of the Rockerfeller Center Christmas tree
A pegasus (Rainbowshine) perched on a tower of the Brooklyn Bridge
A crowd of humans and ponies waiting for the ball to drop on New Year's Eve in Times Square
Searchlight driving a vintage Checker taxicab in front of the Woolworth Building
The flags in front of the United Nations Building, with the Equestrian flag the closest to the viewer
A crowd of humans and ponies cheering on the New York Rangers (NHL hockey) at Madison Square Garden
An earth pony buying a carrot dog from a food cart
A unicorn couple on a balcony of 56 Leonard Street (aka the Jenga Building)
Ploomette's honor guard flying a formation in front of the Chrysler Building
Ponies interspersed amongst humans in a crowd at Grand Central Station

Several of her staff members are featured in the windows, partially as thanks for their support in setting everything up, and partially because they were available to model for the artist.

There's room for more of them. Ploomette's waiting for the right occasion, hoping to memorialize ponies who contribute to the city she now calls home.

Snowcatcher will end up enshrined in stained glass, perched atop her favorite bridge (the George Washington). This may not ever come up in story, but it's Ploom's way of thanking Snowy for temporarily filling in until she gets the archmage Twilight promised her. Snowcatcher continues helping even after Ploomette finally gets an archmage.


Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/2041709

Embassies and consulates have certain protections granted to them. For example, the host country isn't allowed to intrude upon them without authorization, not even to put out a fire. What I couldn't find in my research was how a country would react to a consulate being built from scratch as opposed to acquiring an existing structure. Would said building have to conform to building codes in the city/country of its construction? My thought on this was 'yes' for two reasons: 1. If the building is under construction, it can't very well serve its intended function (at least not until later on in the construction process). 2. Should the diplomatic mission ever leave the premises, the building itself would still be in the city (flip side to that is it might not need to pass building codes until that time).

Keep in mind I'm not an ambassador, consul-general, consul, or any other kind of diplomat. I do a lot of research, but there are some things I'm just not going to find answers on. So if anyone out there reading this knows otherwise and can cite it, I'll edit the parts about building codes accordingly.

There's a scene in Lulu Luck's Act II chapter (already written, since I thought it was going to be in Act I, but once I realized her chapter was already too long, I bumped it back to Act II) that involves learning to drive, and I asked a Canadian expatriate what her experience was like getting certified for driving in the USA. Sadly, I don't know any diplomats and Wikipedia & search engines are only as good as the information being searched.


Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/1915065

Frisco's a G3 pony who was an exclusive Pony Fair toy. Most of my cast are fairly obscure ponies and it takes a long time to find good images of them. In Frisco's case, this is it. The above image is her solitary hit on Derpibooru. Her cutie mark is that of the Golden Gate Bridge, which I felt was appropriate for an architect/engineer. If she feels like part of a bigger story, she is! One of the ideas I shelved when I started writing 16 was a story starring her, the earth pony architect who can 'grow' buildings. As with much of my writing over the last year, it will be another entry into Admiral Biscuit's challenge if/when it ever gets finished. I suspect that there's at least one other pony with the same ability (Maud Pie, and possibly other Pie family members).

If you're wondering why Equestria's most talented architect was tasked with designing the ponies' New York Consulate-General as opposed to their Washington, D.C. Embassy, it's simple. Blueblood insisted on the embassy being designed by a unicorn. The remaining American consulates were renovations of existing buildings.


Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/1358310

Lawsuit is normally one word, but the Suit family of lawyers enjoys breaking their names into multiple words. They like when other ponies address them as Mr. or Miss/Mrs./Ms. Suit. Professionalism is par for their course, and Law, at least, is proving far more useful on Earth than he ever was in Equestria. His daughter, Ali (Alimony), however, not so much. But Rainbowshine will make her into something soon enough.


Source: https://derpibooru.org/images/1248639

Admiral Biscuit and I are in 100% agreement: ponies love Matchbox.


Source: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/484287/grounding-3-2-1

Imagine my surprise at seeing a story posted yesterday that features both Lily Blossom and Rainbow Flash! I haven't read it yet, as I'm in the middle of reading something else, but I'm giving it a shout out just because I love seeing these toy-only characters get some love. I'm glad I'm not the only one writing about these two! :pinkiehappy:

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/484287/grounding-3-2-1

Comments ( 10 )

I didn't have much to say on the chapter this time and so decided to combine comments: thank you for writing and for the additional information. :)

"I'm writing this generically to avoid having to deal with any real life figures/politics, and as such this scene's always going to be almost five years before the events of Business Trip. If we assume that story took place in October 2019, when posted, Ploomette's first excursion to Earth would be taking place circa April 2015. So for the purposes of the story, Danny will always be driving a twenty-year-old pickup, Megan will always have a Ford Bronco, but at some point in a few years, that could eventually be a newer one (1996 being the last year for the model until its return as a 2021 model), and Molly's always got a ten-year-old Mustang."
...I am, however, fairly confused by this passage.

"As for writing it on a sliding time scale"
...Oh. Uh. Well, I guess that clears up some of my confusion. But... why?
(And I still don't know how the time scale is/will be/has been sliding...)

"I don't want to play guessing games on 'what would this person have said/done?' or 'what would the response be to ____?"
And what does this mean in context? How is it relevant to the sliding time scale thing?

"This is supposed to be feel-good fluff."
...Uh. I mean, there's some of that in the story, sure, but I don't think I'd describe the story as that; there's too much in it that, at least in my perception, isn't just not that but contrary to that. Interesting.

"The full list of the (current) stained glass windows in the Equestrian Consulate-General"
When is "current"? Is that later in time than the end of the chapter, or were some of the windows made as depictions of events that had not, yet, at least, happened when they were made?
Ah, though the next paragraph seems to at least heavily imply that at least much of it is the latter.

Some good questions there!

To clarify the sliding time scale, I'm using 'years/months/days ago' instead of a set date with a specific month/date/year. Next chapter (Plumsweet) we go past 'today' ('today' is always that pony's first day on Earth, which isn't always the same; Lulu Luck, for example, has a different 'today' than any other cast member we've seen to date, having come through the portal at a later date than the others) for the first time, and we'll start counting up days ('day 2', 'day 20', etc.).

There's two reasons for this. Like I mentioned above, it means not having to write fictionalized versions of real world political figures and avoid getting into debates with folks who might not agree with how I'd predict people would react to colorful little ponies. The other big reason is Equestria has their own calendar that doesn't sync up with ours. I'd also have to look up real life events from the day in question and write accordingly.

To clarify the part about the cars, Danny drives a circa twenty-year-old Chevy pickup and Molly has a roughly decade-old Mustang convertible. Megan has a Ford Bronco (discontinued in 1996, but coming back in 2021). As written, with these events being in the past, Danny's pickup is a 1994 model and Molly's Mustang is a 2007 (21 years and 8 years respectively prior to 2015). Next year they'd be 1995 & 2008 models respectively, etc.

I didn't intend this to be confusing, and it's why I didn't go into too many details in the chapter itself. Since it's from Ploomette's perspective, and she wouldn't know a 2007 Mustang from a 1971 Gremlin, I was just trying to give some more details here in the chapter notes. That way any readers who wanted to have a good idea of what the characters are driving could look them up. But it's not really important from a story perspective, it just helps with the visualization.

In my head, I have January 1, 2019 as the day the portal between Earth and Equestria opened to trade/immigration (the 'today' for almost all the ponies we've seen so far; Lulu Luck is the only exception to date; Starbeam Twinkle will be another one). Ploomette's been on Earth since 2015, setting things up for the future immigrants. These are my 'set dates' in my head, but if I stick to specific dates, then it leads to things like 'what happened on this day in this location?' and 'who was in charge?' I could just fictionalize them, of course, and make up my own world leaders, but it's common knowledge (or easily looked up) that Barrack Obama was president of the USA in 2015, François Hollande was President of France in 2015, and Prince Albert II has been Prince of Monaco since 2005. Then I'd have to think up how these people (who I don't know) would react and come to their eventual conclusions. Predicting human behavior isn't something I'm good at (and I wouldn't even attempt to predict Donald Trump :facehoof: ).

As for me calling this feel-good fluff, yes, the story's more than that, a lot more than that. We've had action/adventure (Lulu Luck), we've had sad (Flitterheart), and we've touched on many other genres (and will continue to do so), so I'm not trying to dismiss the story. I've been living and breathing this story for almost a year now and I'm very invested in making this the best thing I've ever written. I want this story to be an escape from real life, not something that pulls people back into the mess we call reality.

The fine line I walk is I want to ground things in reality. If a pegasus were to show up on Earth, what would they need to do to get airborne legally? How would they stay safe and avoid getting sucked into a jet engine? How would governments regulate unicorn teleportation? How does G1 factor into this (the toyline has been around since the early '80s, why are we only finding out ponies are real decades later)? Questions of that nature are the ones my mind loves to answer and come up with a logical, rational explanation for.

The current list of windows is the ones at the time of the chapter's end (as the first busload of ponies pulls in). Space has been left for future windows (like the one mentioned for Snowcatcher).

Good questions, and I hope this clears them up a bit better!

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...I'm... not sure if I'm less confused or more about the time scale things now, sorry. Are you saying that we actually aren't seeing sixteen mares meet each other, but sixteen separate universes, parallel in many ways but with some temporal offsets and other differences, in each of which a set of sixteen mares, counterparts of the other sets, is meeting?

And I don't see how this means not having to write fictionalized versions of real world political figures, at least not more than just leaving things nondescript or making up different figures without the temporal/alternate universe... stuff.

...Not do I understand how Equestria having a different calendar factors into this.

The looking up real life events thing, though, that, at least, I think I do understand! So that's something! :D

...But from what you say about the car years, uh...
...Having trouble even formulating a question. Next year? What next year?

...Yeah, probably no less confused, at least, though I still don't know about more. Quuuuite possibly; sorry.
Thank you for, well, trying to explain.

"I didn't intend this to be confusing, and it's why I didn't go into too many details in the chapter itself."
I mean, to be fair, just going from the story itself, I don't recall ever even suspecting something might be strange with the timeline.
...Oh, right, though I recall that's not quite true, as of this latest chapter: I recall being a bit confused about how apparently Ploomette thought the Williams family had been to busy helping Equestrians return home to repair the damage from the storm that was apparently only last year, but I believe I decided that that presumably referred to some other help I wasn't recalling at the time.
Though now I'm wondering again...
But, yes, I don't recall having anything like this massive confusion over how time worked in the story before this blog post.

"Since it's from Ploomette's perspective, and she wouldn't know a 2007 Mustang from a 1971 Gremlin, I was just trying to give some more details here in the chapter notes. That way any readers who wanted to have a good idea of what the characters are driving could look them up. But it's not really important from a story perspective, it just helps with the visualization."
Um. Well, thanks, but I'm afraid that I'm still baffled how this relates to the way time works here, and how apparently this isn't important from a story perspective? Is this, like... a matter of philosophy? Is... but... egh.
...Okay, right, as I have limited time, I think I'll say "insufficient data" for now, and await further explanation (Oh, though in case I don't happen to check back after you post a reply to this, just as a reminder, you might want to put it as a reply to my comment in the website software, too (though I assume that just got left off by accident this time; I've done that before too in the past).) rather than go spiralling off through speculations on the philosophical implications of a universe/multiverse structure/sample set and its presentation here that turns out to be based on an extremely incorrect foundation.

"I could just fictionalize them, of course, and make up my own world leaders, but it's common knowledge (or easily looked up) that Barrack Obama was president of the USA in 2015, François Hollande was President of France in 2015, and Prince Albert II has been Prince of Monaco since 2005. Then I'd have to think up how these people (who I don't know) would react and come to their eventual conclusions. Predicting human behavior isn't something I'm good at (and I wouldn't even attempt to predict Donald Trump :facehoof: )."
...Uh. But, I mean, it's not like the nondescript occupiers of political offices in the various times the stories are set have no reactions at all, is it? And... either you are showing those reactions, or at least some amount of their effects on the viewpoint character(s), in which case you're indeed either making up your own or trying to predict a real person's or something, or you're not showing them, in which case, what does it matter if the unseen, unfelt, and nonspecific action is being done by President Barrack Obama or President John Fiction, or President-Emperor Norton The Immortal, for that matter?
Like, a Prince of Monaco appears in the latest chapter, but he's not named. Is what he did something Prince Albert II wouldn't have done? Well, if so, he's not Albert II, or he's an alternate Albert II who would do it. If not, then he may or may not be some version of Albert II, still; it's just as nonspecific as it started. But there is a Prince of Monaco there, doing something; you are already trying to predict how someone in the position of Prince of Monaco would react in this situation. And I'm not saying that leaving the prince's name unknown to the reader doesn't work here! My point is more that I think it does, already, without... whatever is going on with the timelines, so I don't really see what that is supposed to do?
I don't know. I'm still pretty confused about all of this.

"so I'm not trying to dismiss the story."
Oh, just to be clear, I don't think that it being feel-good fluff would necessarily be a dismissal; that can have its place.
I was just puzzled why you were calling the story that.

"I want this story to be an escape from real life, not something that pulls people back into the mess we call reality."
Though I'm guessing that's what you meant by it?
If so, thanks for the explanation.

(And good luck with achieving that story quality goal! :))

Aye, the reality-grounding stuff can be interesting. :)

re the windows:
Ah, thanks!

Thanks! And, uh. Well. Some of them, at least? :D

5414614

Are you saying that we actually aren't seeing sixteen mares meet each other, but sixteen separate universes, parallel in many ways but with some temporal offsets and other differences, in each of which a set of sixteen mares, counterparts of the other sets, is meeting?

I'm very sorry for the confusion! Absolutely not - this is one story, they're all meeting each other. Just forget this blog post ever existed (and my previous reply) because I think it's caused far more confusion than it has clarified anything. I'll have to edit it accordingly.

I think the below will help you more than anything. This is the timeline I'm using:

First contact was made sometime in 1979 (Firefly landing in the Williams' well).

In summer 2014 a massive hurricane hit the New Jersey coastline pushing inland through the Pine Barrens. That hurricane hit the portal, pushing through the portal into Equestria, coming out over the Everfree Forest and causing an unscheduled storm over Ponyville. Rainbow Dash recruited the town's pegasi to help her mitigate the damage, and she sent Flitter & Cloudchaser into the Everfree to try and break the storm up. They ended up on our side of the portal.

The rescue operation is what uncovered the portal, and brought it to attention, which is when Twilight called the meeting of all the nobles (the events we saw depicted in Ploomette's second chapter). This would take place very late in 2014 (December).

In 2015 (circa April), Ploomette came through the portal to Earth and began the process of making contact and setting up the consulate-general in New York.

The portal 'officially' opened January 1, 2019 and our first busload of ponies came through on that day (we've seen this bus in every chapter except Lulu Luck's; she's on a later bus). In regards to Lulu Luck (this will also be relevant to Starbeam Twinkle) their '____ amount of days ago' will be different from the rest of the ponies we've seen thus far. 'Today' is always the day of that pony's first day on Earth (or in Ploomette's case, the day the portal officially opens), and Lulu and Starbeam aren't on that first bus through the portal. They come through at a later date, so their 'today' is different than the 'today' of all the other characters, but it's still the same story. They come through after the Mareiott already exists, as opposed to helping create it in the first place like most of the rest of the cast.

Does that clear things up?

To clarify as best I can on what I was trying to say, a sliding time scale means that if you're reading the story in 2020, that's the year the events are taking place. If you're reading it in 2054, that's the year it's taking place. The story's the same, the characters are the same, just the timing is different (the Prince of Monaco in 2054 may not be the same as the one in 2015, hence the absence of naming real world figures, so that the story can continue to slide forward in time). I don't think that works for you, so default to the above, because that's the timeline that I'm working from. I think I'll just remove the part about sliding time scale entirely from these blog notes. The events can always take place according to the above schedule.

5414714
Apology accepted, for the part of it that was even your fault to begin with. :)
And thanks for the clarification... or, rather, letting me know I can ignore the sliding time scale thing, but same effect! :D
I think I'll only ignored the bits about the time scale thing rather than the whole of the post and reply, though, since, after all, there was other stuff in there I did understand. :)

And yes, thank you very much for the timeline!
And for clarifying the thing with the hurricane, though I'm guessing that my slight confusion there may just have been because I forgot a detail. Looks like my guess at the explanation was correct, though, so even less of a problem than it might have been.

"Does that clear things up?"
Very much, yes; thank you again. :)

And thank you for the clarification on what you were trying to say, but--
"I don't think that works for you"
Right, yeah, that seems to be the case. :D
Thanks, just in case there's part of it I haven't covered yet, for providing the default. :)
(I mean, part of the reason it wasn't working for me was that I wasn't understanding what you were trying to say -- but part of the reason I was having such trouble understanding, I think, was that the correct idea still doesn't seem to fit very well for me and so wasn't standing out as "Oh, that must be what they mean".)

"I think I'll just remove the part about sliding time scale entirely from these blog notes. The events can always take place according to the above schedule."
I have slightly mixed feelings on that, given I don't know if that would have been better for some number of other readers, but then, I also don't know how many other readers would have been confused as I was, so... eh? I don't know. But I suppose if there still aren't hard dates given in the story, those for whom a sliding scale works can still apply that view.

5415200

You're welcome!

I don't know if that would have been better for some number of other readers, but then, I also don't know how many other readers would have been confused as I was, so... eh? I don't know. But I suppose if there still aren't hard dates given in the story, those for whom a sliding scale works can still apply that view.

It shouldn't be a problem at all. There are no hard dates given in story, so it can still be a sliding time scale for those who like that. But there are hard dates listed here in the replies to this blog, for those who like that. The best of both worlds! :scootangel: I prefer the hard dates for one reason: first contact should be before G1 starts (hence 1979 in my mind).

Obviously for me, while writing, it helps to have hard dates. I have a timeline document that I consult frequently while writing to make sure I don't inadvertently contradict something I've written previously. Normally I just go back and reread constantly (to refresh myself on the story), but this story's way too long to do that now. It's far easier to just skip to the parts I need to reference

5415289
Ah, good; sounds like that should work, then. :)

Makes sense. And the story's expected to get quite a bit longer, too, as I recall. :D

5415319

Oh yes! I originally estimated 150,000-200,000 words total. We're past 130,000 words and we're not even out of the first act yet. These mares have stories to tell, and by golly, they're going to tell them!

5415322
Fortunate for us that they seem to be generally fun ones to be told, then. :D

5416049

I'm glad you're enjoying them! :pinkiehappy:

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