Onto the Pony Planet--Chapter 3 notes · 1:58am Oct 20th, 2013
Chapter 3 blog entry
Thanks to my pre-readers!
Humanist
AnormalUnicornPony
metallusionsismagic
Woonsocket Wrench
My Parents
And a special thanks to Alesiopdv, who read though the Moller/Cortez section and made sure my Spanish was up to par.
RBS (RB-S); Defender-class boat 
Alesiopdv suggested the Caballo Marino Chilote as a monster from South American mythology that Lyra could be mistaken for. Admittedly, the description isn’t all that close—but Cortez would never have seen one, either. As mythologists and obscure electronics experts know, pixies and nixies aren’t the same thing.
From Wikipedia: “Legend says that the "Caballo marino chilote" is an invisible creature, which could only be seen by those with magical powers. The creature would look like a normal horse, but would have the longer snout, golden mane, four paws in the form of fins, and a long tail, similar to the tail of a fish. They can exist in various sizes, from dwarfs to giants. The Brujo Chilote (a type of sorcerer or warlock) would use a "Caballo marino chilote" as transportation to get to the Caleucheghost ship.”
Katherine Loye Dybek: I usually come up with names from the phone book. It’s a great way to get a believable-sounding name (after all, someone’s already named that).* Agent William Moller got his name that way. But while it works all right for ‘background’ characters, it’s unsatisfactory for major characters, in my opinion. Especially since I like to work a few puns or obscure references into names (initials spell something, or the last name means something in a foreign language [Grand Rapids has a large Dutch population, so it made sense that Dale’s last name would be Dutch in origin—plus, it was kind of an Easter Egg for one of my pre-readers, who speaks Dutch].
Her working name was “Katherine Anne Marie Dove.” Kate Dove was a character in a movie; Anne and Marie are common middle names for women where I live (one or both names). I thought I’d give her a double middle name—common for Catholics—but later dropped the idea, since it might confuse some readers into assuming she was married, which she isn’t. However, in my research for common Catholic confirmation names, I had a bright idea, involving a patron saint. Thus, the middle name Loye.
[*It’s good practice to google search the names you pick out of a phone book—if you only get one hit, or someone you didn’t know was famous (or infamous), it might be worth changing the name to avoid unwanted associations. If you’re writing professionally, this practice can help you avoid unwanted legal complications, too.]
I also made an amusing discovery: Anthony's full name is Henry Anthony. When I googled to see if anyone famous was named that, I got this:
The discerning reader will notice that the gentleman pictured in the results box on the right side is not, in fact, Henry Bowen Anthony, but is in fact retired football cornerback Anthony Henry, most recently of the Detroit Lions.
Here she was on the most modern form of transportation imaginable
Yes, I am aware that there are balloons and airships in canon. The hot-air ballon, as we all know, is older than a steam locomotive [by date invented: hot air balloon 1783; steam locomotive 1784—but 1804 for first full-scale working locomotive]. The airship in Apple Family Reunion appears self-propelled (it has wings and a propellor); what it does not have is an enclosed cabin. Honestly, it looks more like an experimental design than a production model, especially with the very rowboat-like basket that hangs below it.
Perry Pierce’s jilted lover is a reference to another fic I wrote.
For those of you frantically scrolling down my list of stories . . . look to the little boxes on the left side of the page. That’s right, the collab cage entries. A Gift from Celestia is what you want. Warning! Sex!
If we cannot summon the mountain to ourselves, than we must go to the mountain!
The earliest source of this phrase is from Francis Bacon (1625). “Mahomet made the people believe that he would call a hill to him, and from the top of it offer up his prayers, for the observers of his law. The people assembled; Mahomet called the hill to come to him, again and again; and when the hill stood still, he was never a whit abashed, but said, If the hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the hill” I’ve usually seen it paraphrased along the lines of “if the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain.”
“Especès de mérinos mal peignés.” A badly-groomed merino sheep. Google suggested it as one of the top ten weird French insults. If I was better at French, I’d’ve kept it and ponified it, maybe.
The hint that Pokey Pierce might ‘bat for the other team’ was inspired by My Time Among Clothes Hangers by Kegisak. (I hope that wasn’t a spoiler . . . seriously, though, it’s a great story.)
The first laser (1960) was a ruby laser, so-called because it uses a synthetic ruby crystal as its gain medium. I don’t know enough about lasers to have any idea what that means—but I do know that if you took the ruby out, the laser wouldn’t work.
Christopher McCandless is the subject of the film Into the Wild. He is presumed to have died from eating a plant containing a neurotoxin, which he had misidentified as an edible plant.
Handshakes: Obviously, we’ve seen ponies do ‘hoofshakes’ and ‘brohoofs.’ While I can’t remember any specific examples, it’s likely Spike has done a more-traditional handshake before, and Iron Will grabbed Fluttershy by the leg and held her up; he may have also done a handshake to her or somepony else (I’m not sure). So why does Lyra say ‘no?’ I think that the social rules for a human-style handshake would be somewhat complicated, especially since Dale could be seen as a potential threat to ponies who don’t know him. Certainly in canon the townsponies are frightened of creatures they don’t recognize (probably a rational behavior, given the monsters that live around Ponyville). I’d think that something—or someone—grabbing their leg would be frightening, since they need those to run away from predators (plus, I’m pretty sure I read that in a book on horse behavior, but I can’t remember which book). Rather than try to explain—especially given the language barrier—Lyra decided to just say no.
Helping a professional: trust me, it’s not done. I work in an automotive repair shop, and one of the things I most hate to hear is “I tried to fix it myself, but. . . .” Unless you’re best friends with your mechanic, offering to help is not even an option. You might as well go into McDonalds and ask if you can help make your Happy Meal.
Who can identify the ‘carpenter pony’—or, if you prefer, hoofypony? She’s a legit background pony who’s been seen in Ponyville.
Does this mean I should be F5'ing like a madman?
Dangit Cortez, she's not a seapony!
fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/233/8/5/meanwhile_under_the_sea_by_johnjoseco-d47f9n1.jpg
1436644
Yes, yes it does.
1436647
I don't think Cortez would make the distinction at a time like this. My first thought was that he'd think of a kelpie, but without looking it up on Wikipedia, I can't tell you if a kelpie vaguely fits Lyra's description or not.
Besides, we all know that unicorns are really cloven-hoofed, more closely related to goats than horses.
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The into the wild guy seems to have died due to eating a plant that he knew was not poisonous but in reality was poisonous under special conditions and to certain groups of people, these conditions being: low caloric intake, high activity levels, being a young adult male.
Real bad luck, the information his books had was inaccurate.
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In the film, he ate a toxic plant which looked like a non-toxic plant. Dale most likely would remember that scene from the movie (I do), and would also know that there are other plants that can easily be confused. False Hellbore is one--not only is it toxic to ingest, but it can poison through skin contact, too. It looks much like western skunk cabbage, which can be eaten.
1437058
Oh, yes, in the movie that was the case.
So is Cortez Chilean? The Caballo Marino Chilote is from a very specific part of Chile.
Regarding the hoofshakes, AJ actually did a traditional shake with two hooves with Twilight on the pilot episode.
1437284
Cortez is an American citizen of Chilean descent. He would have learned the name from his grandmother, most likely.
1438071
Awesome! I have relatives in Chile, so it is always neat to see it appear in things.
1437478
That's true, and we've seen hoofshakes with the hooves alongside each other, rather than 'shoe-to-shoe.' The part that I believe would have been uncomfortable to Twilight would be the grabbing and pulling which Dale did--instinctively, at first, and then to get a closer look at her shoe. It would be like someone grabbing tightly around the wrist, rather than a normal handshake--a potentially threatening behavior. Lyra can't explain that to Dale, due to the language barrier, so instead is just telling him 'no.' She would know that if he were to go out into Ponyville and start grabbing ponies by the hoof, they'd likely panic.
1438075
I'm glad that research into small details is worth the effort! I owe the credit to Alesiopdv; he's the one who suggested it--as well as provided me with a list of Spanish first names, and checked the Spanish-language sections for accuracy.
1436647
From the editing notes: I skimmed through a few episodes where I knew the ponies were lying down and saw none in which the ponies were shown getting to their feet. There are a few instances I saw of them having their forelegs up where they stand, but that's all I noticed.
Research indicates that their sitting position is roughly accurate, though:
images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130109060918/mlp/images/8/80/Applejack,_Rarity,_and_Twilight_laughing_S01E08.png
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The closest I could find was Pinkie going from lying down to the 'Superman' pose in Lesson Zero.
1438090
True, true. I guess that makes sense.
Seriously? Moller? Mulder? (from x-files) No? Or I am thinking to much?
1441056
It's a good thought, and maybe I kind of subconsciously was drawn to that name . . . but it came from a phone book, I promise. You'll note he's a Michigan State Police detective now, rather than an 'agent.'
Into the Wild is a hilarious black comedy, but most films sites call it a drama for some reason. Same with Grizzly Man.
4471247
You have a different idea of what a black comedy is than I do.