A 14th Century Update · 7:48pm Mar 13th, 2021
14th Century Friar readers will be happy to know a new chapter should be coming out in the next few days. Thank you all for your patience. I cannot promise my upload schedule will be getting any more regular, but I’m trying to get back on the horse after – frankly – a long string of crazy months.
A quick note on the upcoming chapter and a planned chapter that I’ve had to abandon any real hope of writing:
I was at one time planning on a chapter for the Supplement wherein there would some amusing interactions involving ponies eating meat.
In real life, horses and ponies and the like do eat meat on occasion – usually to fill a dietary deficiency. They’re not omnivorous in the way we usually think about it, but they’re not necessarily pure vegetarians.
I’ve heard people talk about the odd experience of watching a horse stalk a mouse with the intention of eating it. It’s the sort of thing that makes you go, “Dang, Nature, you scary!” Bonus points if you read that in Snoop Dogg's voice.
Now, Equestria’s sapient ponies have more in common with humans than regular horses and ponies do. Among those commonalities is the need for protein and other nutrients for their big, sapient brains. We see them eating things like eggs pretty regularly.
Many authors on this site take it a step farther and conclude that there’s a very simple reason why the Apples (and others) fishing and raising pigs and chickens: meat = tasty protein (plus other dietary benefits). While these authors generally presume that meat is a pretty rare thing for ponies to eat (relative to other protein sources, at least), and that it’s not common for ponies to know how to cook meat, they’ll still show ponies eating chicken, fish, and poultry from time to time.
I have come around to their line of thinking, and planned to make a funny chapter about Jacques discovering this. He was probably going to smell cooked meat, become confused, and come downstairs and see Morning Song and Applejack happily munching their way through some sausages.
That didn’t happen, and it probably never will happen. As you’ve no doubt surmised, I’m beyond busy, and I can barely turn out regular chapters. Unlike previous half-finished chapters that I published in A 14th Century Supplement, I don’t even have an outline for this, much less a draft. I don’t have time to write something without taking away time from more important chapters in this story.
But, since there’s a scene in the upcoming chapter that plays into that change, and because I’ll be referencing it periodically on a forward-going basis, I thought I’d give you a heads-up.
So... yeah. Carry on.
It would also explain how AJ knows how to truss a turkey in Season 1...
Looking forward to the update
Knowing there's a new chapter on the way makes me happy.
Don't you mean get back on the pony? We are talking about an MLP story.
*Boop*
He's alive!
Ponies and horses eat meat and you will be incorporating it into your story. Good to know. Keep up the good work.
Hey, take your time mate, the world wasn't made in a day, so don't worry about it.
Pity, I would have loved to see this at some point. Indeed, given that he's lived around horses all his life, perhaps Jacques isn't all that surprised.
Good to hear from you. Entirely understandble situation; here's hoping things settle down a bit for you in the future. In any case, looking forward to more.
While we won't get a whole chapter based around pony dietary habits, it does warm my heart a little to know you thought about making one.
Better or worse than Flutters portioning out appropriate meals in the back shed? Injured predators would need more meat, not less.
Yay! I guess I picked a good time to start re-reading this story.
Made my day to receive this update from you!
Can't wait to get back to reading my favorite story on this site.
This is a great piece of world building and I'm glad for the heads up!
I would argue that the Equestrians having full binocular vision and full mouths of teeth also argue toward learning more into omnivore, even if culturally they're largely vegetarian.
That said, I'm delighted to hear there will be a new chapter in the near future. I doubt it will happen already, but I'm looking forward to what fruit is borne of Jacques' discussions with Argent and with the four young barons.
Until today, I hadn't logged onto this site since (roughly) Thanksgiving...and one of the first posts at the top of my (huge) backlog is this one haha. Don't worry about trying to write everything that comes into your brain -- that way lies madness! 😅
5474533
Oh yeah, that line did raise some eyebrows, didn't it?
5474533
Where was this?
5497499 "Fall Weather Friends", when AJ ties Rainbow Dash's wings down and says she's "trussed up like a turkey"
5497588
Ah, thanks. That certainly is an interesting turn of phrase for a culture/species that is supposed to be herbivorous. I mean, I suppose it could be something that they picked up from the Griffons or something, but they eat eggs and dairy, so it's not entirely out of the question for them to at least acknowledge meat based foods, even if in a solely token manner.
And this is the point I remember that there was Chicken and fish present at Jacque's welcome party.