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       #Post#: 225--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Blank Pages
       By: Marked Twine Date: December 27, 2013, 12:58 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Face now baring a noticeable red shade from a blush over his
       continued behavior, Marked wondered for a brief moment if simply
       running off with a short and simple 'I gotta go' would spare
       both him and the mares any more bother, his pouch being left
       behind as his payment for the fritter that he would probably
       also drop in his fleeing of the scene. However, after hearing
       Rainbow Dash's urging for him to calm down, and seeing her smile
       after daring to let his eyes flick up from their staring at the
       ground, the stallion tried to relax as per her request, him
       taking several slow and deep breathes as he took back the pouch
       being offered back to him, hoof still a little trembly though
       despite his efforts. "Y-yeah," he managed, withdrawing bits from
       his pouch and hoofing over one too many as he paid for his
       fritter with five instead of four, his incorrect count of bits
       being just another slip up brought on by his nerves,
       "S-sorry..."
       A glance back behind him showed that he was, on top of probably
       looking like a silly stallion who couldn't handle being around
       famous ponies, starting to possibly hold up the forming line of
       hungry customers. Stepping off to the side of the cart with his
       head lowered slightly, he gave Applejack a brief apologetic look
       before firmly setting his gaze back on the ground beneath him
       that he'd begun to shyly scuff with his hoof. Swallowing
       nervously, he tried to answer Dash without making a bigger fool
       of himself, "I'm writing... or, well, trying to write my new
       b-book. So, I guess right now you could say I'm j-just writing
       notes and scribbles... What few have been coming to mind at
       least..."
       #Post#: 263--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Blank Pages
       By: Applejack Date: December 28, 2013, 11:29 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Applejack only shook her head at Rainbow's insistence on using
       incorrect grammar. Appppplejack had tried, at least. She wasn't
       going to keep trying to beat her head against a brick wall. So
       instead, she looked back to the nervous pony, staring at him for
       a moment as she waited for him, almost as if expecting him to
       get his head back on his shoulders. She couldn't wait forever
       for him either, so when Rainbow finally took her order,
       Applejack immediately set about grabbing a couple fritters and
       wrapping them in some napkins before handing them over to
       Rainbow.
       "Eight bits," she told the mare clearly, before falling silent
       as she and Mark continued to converse a little bit, urging
       Rainbow to the side a bit so the next pony now standing in line
       could take their order as well, not even bothering to glance
       Rainbow's way when Applejack's name was added on in some kind of
       afterthought regarding the stallion's nervousness. Then, when
       Marked finally got around to giving her his bits, she took the
       four she needed and pushed the extra one back to him, all while
       pulling another treat out from a basket to give to the next pony
       in line at the same time.
       The same hoof that had pushed Marked's bit back to him was then
       held out to Rainbow in obvious expectation, while simultaneously
       taking some bits from the pony exchange for the treat that had
       been given and waving the next pony forward. This was all
       expertly done in one fluid motion, almost making it look like
       some kind of show. "Well, if ya don't have much ta say 'bout the
       book yer writin', how 'bout what you've already written? An'
       Ah'm sure if ya ask nicely, RD's got some perty.... uh,
       'interestin'' stories she could tell. Maybe one o' them could
       give you some ideas. Unless that's too much ta ask of ya, RD?"
       Applejack smirked, knowing what that challenge would do for the
       mare.
       #Post#: 370--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Blank Pages
       By: Rainbow Dash Date: January 2, 2014, 3:48 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Rainbow Dash watched the nervous stallion fumble around for a
       little bit longer, eventually turning her attention to Applejack
       holding out her hoof for... something... The Pegasus blinked in
       realization, frowning somewhat at the implication as she hovered
       over to the side ever so slightly, just barely out of the way.
       "What? No tab this morning? Besides, didn't I win that last
       little bet we had?" Dash smiled wryly, but she knew all too well
       that their last mano-a-mano resulted in a tie, much like
       anything else that involved the two mares. Regardless, the
       Pegasus decided to not press her luck while AJ was in 'business
       mode' and fished out eight golden bits with a mild huff of
       annoyance. Rainbow's mild disposition didn't last very long,
       however, as she immediately tore into one of the apple-fritters
       and devoured it whole like it was the last one to ever be made.
       After a few moments of relishing in her temporary sweet-laden
       world, Dash finally turned her attention back to the stallion...
       She gazed over him with bright, cerise eyes, still unconvinced
       that she hadn't seen him before. "A new book, you say?" Dash
       remained barely aloft, seemingly more comfortable just a few
       inches off the ground as she took a bite or two out of her
       second apple-treat. "That means *chomp* you've written *nom*
       books before *crunch* haven't you, Uh... uh....." The Pegasus
       blinked, unsure of what to even call the stallion. "What's your
       name, pal? Not to brag or anything, but I've read quite a few
       books. Maybe I've read one of them." She shrugged to herself and
       finished her second apple-fritter, almost pouting as she
       realized that she didn't have a third one.
       When Applejack spoke up about Dash's 'stories', her somewhat
       'calm and complacent' demeanor spontaneously sprung to life.
       "Too much to ask!? Did you forget who you were talking to,
       sugarcube?" Dash glanced back to AJ as she poked the mare with a
       quick jest of her own. "And I believe the word you're looking
       for is awesome, radical, or just simply cool. Or any combination
       of the three. Like awesomelyradicool or something like that..."
       Rainbow Dash paused and rolled that word in her mouth again...
       That sounded so much cooler in her head. She turned back to the
       stallion, beaming boyishly at the thought of being some sort of
       fount of inspiration for a writer. "Weeeeelllllllllll, I suppose
       I could spare a minute or two to discuss one of my many
       exploits... Like that one time I fought a dragon, or when I
       saved the Wonderbolts, or freed Cloudsdale from Discord's
       grasp--" Dash stopped short, somewhat frowning at herself...
       "Well... I had help. But still! It's not every day you find
       somepony that's gone hoof to claw with a dragon."
       #Post#: 371--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Blank Pages
       By: Marked Twine Date: January 2, 2014, 4:35 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Still having trouble even looking up, Marked needed a few
       seconds to realize that one of his bits had been refused by the
       orange mare running the cart, him at first being confused as to
       why but managing to piece together his small slip up after
       allowing his brain to actually breath for a moment. Forcing his
       hoof to remain as still and level as he could, he used the brief
       verbal exchange between the two mares to cover his taking back
       of the bit, it being dropped back Into his pouch and meeting the
       rest of his pocket change with a small "clink". Daring to just
       look up at the ponies, and allowing a brief moment of indulgence
       in his fanboyism, the stallion waited for them to be finished
       speaking before having Rainbow Dash's devouring of her fritter
       remind him that he had one of his own. Taking another step
       further away from the line to free up more space, Marked sat
       down and unwrapped the napkin from around his sweet apple baked
       goodie, taking much smaller bites to savor its flavor and avoid
       having anymore sudden moments of nervousness cause him to choke
       or something.
       Moving on, he blinked at Applejack asking about what he's
       written in the past, again feeling a wave of nerves that he
       tried to battle back as he, somehow, blanked on his recollection
       of his own works. When Rainbow asking his name afterwards and
       claiming she may be familiar with one he's written, Marked
       realized he'd stopped chewing all together, his current bite
       just lingering half crushed between his teeth before he
       recognized this and righted it by finishing it off a little
       faster than he should have, his attempt to get the bite down
       quickly scratching his throat and forcing him to cough. Okay,
       now, he was going to get himself under control. Starting right
       now. Taking a deep breath, Marked pulled himself together, him
       pretending that the ponies he considered himself lucky to speak
       with were just a baker and an off duty weather pony.
       And then Applejack mentioned having Rainbow telling him first
       hoof accounts of adventures shed had in the past, something the
       Pegasus mare seemed eager fully willing to follow up on. Marked
       didn't squee often, but that day he squeed with a big strong
       grin at the thought of hearing about such past adventures from
       one of the ponies who'd actually been a part of it, even if he
       knew from reputation that the mare retelling said stories was
       very likely to embellish in her favor. Immediately realizing
       what he'd done, the writer cleared his throat and pretended to
       cough into his hoof, this being done to hide hos attempts to
       both force his grin into one that was less likely to cause his
       head to be split in half from its sheer size and to hopefully
       make his voice regain its normal male bass as opposed to its
       current filly level squeal.
       "M-my names Marked Twine," he finally introduced himself,
       feeling kind of silly that ot had been so difficult for him even
       given who the others were, "and I wouldn't be surprised if you
       never heard of me, I'm not a big name in literature or anything.
       My last book was titled Delphinus, and the one before that was
       The Mare From Shallow Waters. Neither of them exactly made
       headlines or anything. I have others too, but they're pretty
       uknown to most." Taking yet another breath, he went on to their
       idea of him hearing Rainbow possibly fuel the flames of his
       creativity with stories of her own. "And I would love to hear
       about all of those things. Those kinds of exciting stories could
       be exactly what I need to get over this block of mine."
       #Post#: 398--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Blank Pages
       By: Applejack Date: January 3, 2014, 7:01 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Applejack only rolled her eyes when Rainbow jabbed back at her,
       not really surprised by her reaction. When Rainbow invented her
       new word, Applejack chuckled at her and spoke up with, "Yeah,
       that's sure ta catch on, sug," before focusing her attention on
       keeping the piling line moving. Then, after Rainbow Dash
       mentioned freeing Cloudsdale from Discord's grasp, Applejack
       laughed again and said, "Wait, are you talkin' about the time he
       made you think that tiny cloud was Cloudsdale? Yep, you sure
       saved everypony there," she said through her laughter, putting
       the line on hold for a moment as she tried to recover.
       She did so after letting her laughter die down and wiping a tear
       from her eye, then gave a nod in greeting to Marked when he
       introduced himself. She didn't really recognize any of the books
       he mentioned, so she just continued exchanging treats for bits
       as he spoke, before his last words spread a grin on Applejack's
       face. "Excitin' stories? Hey, RD, you should tell him about the
       time Twilight beat you in a race! Or when the Mysterious Mare Do
       Well showed you up. Or how about when that dragon you mentioned
       flicked you aside like you were a rag doll," she teased, a
       wicked grin on her face as she glanced over to Rainbow.
       #Post#: 434--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Blank Pages
       By: Rainbow Dash Date: January 6, 2014, 5:20 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Rainbow Dash tilted her head in confusion as the stallion
       squee'd in excitement... It wasn't very often that she heard
       that kind of reaction. Well, she did hear it a lot, but not from
       an older stallion such as the one in front of her that seemed to
       be... slowly recovering from his nerves. The Pegasus opted to
       land as he spoke, brows furrowed at the mention of his name and
       his subsequent works of literature. "Marked... Twine... Marked
       Twine. Markedtwine Markedtwine," Dash tapped a hoof against her
       chin, lost in thought as she attempted to place his name
       somewhere. She wasn't too good with author's names, but the
       title 'The Mare From Shallow Waters' definitely struck a bell.
       In fact, Dash was pretty sure she had a copy laying somewhere on
       one of her shelves. "Waaaaiiiit a second... You wouldn't happen
       to be the same Marked Twine that moved to Ponyville some time
       ago? I remember somepony telling me about Shallow Waters, so I
       went to go check it out, and--"
       Dash cut herself short as she came to a sudden realization...
       While he wasn't quite A.K. Yearling, Marked Twine was definitely
       up in her favorites with just that book alone. In fact, she had
       been meaning to try and find more of his works. The Pegasus
       emitted an unexpected squee as well, but she attempted to hide
       it by turning her immediate attention to Applejack. "Yeah yeah,
       laugh it up AJ. For all we knew, that was Cloudsdale. Besides,
       by defeating Discord, I technically saved it anyways. Uh, WE, I
       mean." Dash caught herself again, but she couldn't help but roll
       her eyes at the orange mare's remarks, but she particularly
       scowled at the Mare-Do-Well remark. "Yikes, AJ. Playing for
       keeps today? Let me remind you that Twilight-Egghead beat you,
       too. But that was because we were both scrambling over who was
       the better pony to begin with. Even you have to admit that."
       Rainbow Dash smiled, although it was hard to tell if it was
       forced or not... "And that whole Mare-Do-Well thing? That was...
       low... But in retrospect, perhaps I needed that one..." At this
       point, Dash walked over to Applejack and threw a hoof around her
       neck much like she did with Marked earlier. "And as for the
       dragon? I'd like to see you trot up and buck a dragon square in
       the mouth. Oh, and lets not forget your stories. Like coddling
       and cooing to an inanimate tree on a train. Or pretty much
       single-hoofedly causing an all out war between the Appleoosans
       and the Buffalo. OR demolishing your own barn at your own family
       reunion." The Pegasus glanced over to Twine and tried to stifle
       a laugh as she imagined what he thought of the exchange.
       #Post#: 440--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Blank Pages
       By: Marked Twine Date: January 6, 2014, 8:37 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Grinning, now excitedly instead of nervously, Marked's ears
       alternated between the two mares as he listened to everything
       they said, his eyes and hooves busy searching his saddle bags
       for his glasses and a, mostly, fresh notebook for jotting down
       some notes and what not for future reference. Finding what he
       was after, the stallion was distracted by Rainbow's repeating of
       his name, the pen he was sticking into his mouth hanging loosely
       as he blinked at her, "Y-yup," he said, briefly turning his body
       to show his cutie mark, "or at least that's what my cutie mark
       keeps telling me." When she said shed heard about one of his
       books, the stallion grew both excited and nervous, him excited
       to know if shed ever actually read it and nervous as to if shed
       liked or hated it. At her squee his thoughts were derailed, the
       pegasus spinning half way around, eyes darting about as he
       expected the mare to have possibly caught sight of another one
       of her friends, something that he probably wouldn't have been
       able to survive had it been true.
       By the time he looked back the two mares were again in the
       middle of an exchange, Marked then sitting down and listening in
       as he scribbled a few things down on occasion. He was smiling
       around his pen almost the entire time, him enjoying what they
       were talking about even as they continuously pointed out details
       the other probably wanted to keep more quiet, Marked being heard
       quietly echoing things they said in a mutter such as "thought
       cloud was Cloudsdale" and "demolished own barn". The stallion,
       of course, began to have plenty of questions come to mind, all
       of which he wanted to ask at once, but he kept himself quiet as
       he let them continue on, waiting until enough of a pause to
       chime in a "little" himself.
       "I heard about that Mare-Do-Well pony. Do either of you know
       what actually happened to her? From what I've gathered she just
       kind of dropped off the grid after that short time. Also, you
       bucked a dragon? Woah! Why? How? Did you get close enough I
       mean." He turned his attention to Applejack now, him appearing
       to be trying to stifle a small chuckle, "Is... Is that the
       secret to why your apples are so good? I've heard that talking
       to plants makes them healthier but... And you almost started a
       war? Was this before or after the barn incident?"
       #Post#: 476--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Blank Pages
       By: Applejack Date: January 7, 2014, 8:10 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Applejack rolled her eyes again when Rainbow took all the credit
       for defeating Discord for a moment, probably in-time with the
       eye roll Rainbow gave. She only grinned after that, the reminder
       about Twilight having beaten her too not really catching her too
       much off-guard, since she'd remembered that fact when she
       brought the story up. She continued shelling out treats and
       taking bits as Rainbow went on to talk about some stories
       revolving Applejack this time. She sighed quietly at the first,
       shook her head at the second, and winced at the third. She
       opened her mouth to respond to Rainbow, but paused when Marked
       spoke up with some questions of his.
       He started off with the Mare-Do-Well, earning a slight grin from
       Applejack when she realized he didn't know who the Mare-Do-Well
       had been. He then asked about Rainbow bucking a dragon, which
       Applejack knew was going to get blown out of proportion by
       Rainbow. At least Applejack was there to set the story straight.
       The grin turned into a smile of pride once Marked asked about
       her trees and the quality of their apples, only to fade slightly
       when the barn incident was brought up again. "Lemme start off by
       sayin' somethin'," Applejack began as she hoofed over an
       apple-glazed cinnamon roll to the next pony in line. "Ah didn't
       almost start that war 'single-hoofedly'. RD had a hoof in it,
       too. Heck, if RD hadn't've come inta Appleloosa sayin' they
       should move fer the buffaloes, that whole fight never woulda
       started... But then, things also wouldn't've gotten fixed, so it
       worked out.
       "As fer Bloomberg," Applejack continued, shooting a quick glance
       over to Rainbow. "He weren't no inanimate tree. He could hear
       every word y'all said about him. But yeah, Marked, that's why
       mah apples always turn out the best in all o' Equestria. Some
       ponies would be surprised what a lil' tender love 'n' care could
       do fer 'em," Applejack continued, once more tossing the briefest
       of glances over to Rainbow. "An' Mare-Do-Well? Who knows? Ah
       heard she wasn't needed in Ponyville anymore, so she moved on
       somewhere else. Ah reckon she'll show up again if somepony needs
       her. Like if somepony's head gets too big again," she finished,
       though she didn't glance over to Rainbow this time.
       "Ya know, Ah'm surprised a writer pony can even get writer's
       block. Ah'd've figgered yer special talent would've helped
       against that. Anyway, Ah've never read any o' yer books. What
       kinda stuff d'you write? RD, what d'you think of his books,
       since you've apparently read some of 'em already?"
       #Post#: 501--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Blank Pages
       By: Rainbow Dash Date: January 9, 2014, 6:13 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Snorting distastefully at now the second mention of the
       Mysterious Mare-Do-Well, Rainbow Dash opted to remove herself
       from behind the stand and return to her original spot near
       Marked Twine, but not before lightly flicking Applejack's snout
       with the tip or her tail. The Pegasus held some sort of vendetta
       against that name, and she knew Applejack was using it to her
       advantage. Granted, Rainbow Dash had come to terms that she
       deserved what had happened that day, but it didn't mean that it
       bothered her any less. In fact, what bothered her even more was
       that she couldn't think of something to level the playing field.
       "Yeeeeaaahhh yeahhhh...," she finally replied, almost defeated
       by the mere idea. "The Mysterious Mare entrusted Ponyville's
       protection to us. And in that case, I'm sure she won't be needed
       any time soon." Dash glared at AJ as she spoke, although the
       orange mare never turned to face her. It would be in her best
       interest to drop the subject all-together...
       Dash flopped on the ground and rolled over on her back,
       stretching rather loudly before she tucked her fore-hooves
       behind her head and then crossed her hind legs. "You know, I'm
       not sure how you expect me to believe that you and your family
       coo at every tree in that massive orchard of yours like you did
       for... Bloombug or whatever... But you know what? I'm not even
       going to question it. Your cider more than speaks for itself."
       Dash then turns her cerise gaze upward to Marked, looking at him
       upside-down from her position laying on the ground. "Well, AJ,
       I've only read The Mare From Shallow Waters, and it was totally
       awesome. It was action-y adventure-y, kinda like Daring Do.
       Maaayybe a little creepy, but I wasn't scared, of course. Full
       of plot twists, one right after another, like the mansion
       chapter or who the mare REALLY was! Ugh! Just as I thought I
       knew what was going on, WHAM! Another curveball! I mean, who
       would have expected Derrick Shore to be a double-double agent!?"
       The Pegasus continued to ramble, using her her hooves to express
       a multitude of gestures as she described various events in the
       book. She eventually slowed to a stop once she realized what she
       was doing and glanced back up at Marked with a nervous chuckle.
       "I... uh... Sorry... I get carried away sometimes."
       Tired of her current position, Rainbow Dash rolled lazily back
       on her hooves and dusted herself off a bit, taking small a
       moment to study the steady line. "Oh yeah!" she exclaimed,
       suddenly shooting into the air. She disappeared for a second or
       two at the most before returning with a conveniently sized
       cloud, allowing it to rest just a few inches from the ground
       before flopping on top of it and adjusted herself accordingly.
       "Ah, that's soooooo much better than the ground. Now... Where
       were we... Oh, yes! The dragon! Well, you see, getting close
       wasn't a problem at all thanks to my awesome ninja skills. We
       were trying to get it to move from its lair because smog was
       drifting down into Ponyville. I dunno if you've ever seen dragon
       smog, pal, but it's not pretty. Now, would you believe that this
       dragon had the gall to ignore us? I mean, we tried to ask it
       nicely, but as soon as things got violent, I bucked it right in
       the mouth. POW! Right in the kisser! That dragon didn't even
       know what hit it! Of course, that only made it really angry...
       Believe it or not, Fluttershy, of all ponies, managed to tame it
       and convince it to move... But not before an all out battle
       royale with fire, claws, and fangs." Rainbow Dash smiled once
       more
  HTML http://denver.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/rsz/mlfw1430_large.jpg,<br
       />knowing full well that her setup was going to be torn down by
       Miss Honesty... At least she made it sound cooler...
       "And what about that barn, AJ? It must have been pretty bad if
       it's something you won't even talk about... At least you got a
       shiny new one out of it, if that's any consolation."
       #Post#: 508--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Blank Pages
       By: Marked Twine Date: January 9, 2014, 1:43 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Marked, watching the pair with interested eyes as he eagerly
       listened to the them give more details about some past events,
       was beginning to forget about his notes, instead just focusing
       on the mares and having the pen in his mouth dangle loosely in
       his smile. Eyes catching the cinnamon roll being passed off, he
       was once again reminded of his own apple fritter, it now sadly
       much less warm after having been forgotten for the second time
       and put off to the side. Setting his pen down onto his notebook,
       the earth pony picked his treat back up and started to munch
       away while Applejack told her side to the stories.
       That near war was stirring up more questions, as it should
       considering how it was seemingly both of the mares faults to
       some extent, and it turned out that she did name her tree.
       Bloomberg apparently. Marked wondered if she did that for all of
       her trees just as Rainbow said something similar but leaned
       towards not pressing the issue. And that Mare-Do-Well subject...
       Marked was starting to get the feeling that it was some source
       of teasing for Rainbow. He didn't know much about what happened
       when it came to details, but what he did know was that Dash had
       been in some form of rivalry with the caped hero for a short
       time, and that the Mare-Do-Well had shown her up on more than a
       few occassions. From how confident and proud the mare seemed, it
       was easy to assume that its probably not the most pleasant of
       memories for her to relive and was probably used as a counter by
       her friends when she got a little too proud. Shame they didn't
       know where she went though.
       Deciding not to dig deeper into that part of the conversation
       anymore, Marked moved on to try and answer Applejack's own
       questions, a small frown taking over his features in place of
       his smile as she mentioned her surprise over a pony with a
       talent for writing getting writers block. Another attempt at a
       bite of his fritter was met with nothing but napkin as he hadn't
       even noticed he'd finished the treat off, the revelation pulling
       the edges of his mouth down a little further. Preparing to
       answer the farm pony, the stallion cut himself off once he heard
       AJ ask Rainbow about his book, immediately putting his own
       answer on hold as he turned his attention to the colorful mare
       relaxing on the ground, ears pinned back slightly as he started
       to look nervous, almost not wanting to know her opinion of his
       work while also really wanting to find out.
       It was praise. A lot of praise. Marked's grin returned instantly
       at Rainbow's words, her first ones being to go so far as to call
       his book "totally awesome" before getting more into detail as
       she described it. By the time she was rambling Marked's grin was
       happier and warmer, him wearing a heavy blush and not being able
       to stop himself from staring at his hooves. Critics in the past,
       whatever few had given his book their time, had claimed he'd
       tried to do too many things with Shallow Waters, possibly
       stretching himself too thin, and that his attempts to keep the
       story unpredictable had caused it to be unfocused, but he'd had
       confidence throughout the long days and nights spent writing its
       chapters that it was all just how it should have been. And now,
       sitting here, listening to a mare he himself was a huge fan of
       talk about how much she had enjoyed it... He knew he'd been
       right to stick to it. Right to take the risks instead of just
       play it safe.
       "Gosh..." He said, grin widening a little and looking a little
       silly now as he used a hoof to idly scratch at the ground as
       Rainbow finished, "thank you so much. I'm really happy you liked
       it. Often times I worry that the double-double agent twist could
       have been too easily predicted after the exchange in chapter 24,
       him acting all suspicious around the case and stuff, but its
       good to hear I didn't blow it." Marked wasn't used to direct
       praise as his relatively shy demeanor and strong blush was
       probably making clear. He knew he had fans out there, I mean, he
       wasn't living on the street so somepony had to be buying his
       books, but to have somepony give him a positive opinion in
       person... he wasn't very used to it. Trying to pull himself
       together, the writer again attempted to answer Applejack's
       questions, his earlier frown now nowhere to be seen.
       "Well, it helps to have a talent in storytelling, but
       unfortunately that doesn't make me immune to the occasional
       creative dry spells. It doesn't happen too often, but it can get
       pretty frustrating when it does. As for what I write, my
       specialty lies with the adventure genre, but I try to give every
       genre a chance to see what I can do. For example, I have a
       horror story, a science fiction tale and an... 'eh' attempt at a
       romance novel." Still not being able to really look fully at
       Dash yet as he was still a bit shy about the praise shed given,
       Marked only gave a quick glance as she sped off to find a cloud,
       him nearly squeeing a second time at the showing of speed that
       the pegasus was known for. He got over his shyness when she
       returned though and began to start telling her story about
       assaulting a dragon, Marked hanging on every word as he listened
       intently and wished he had bought another one of Applejacks
       delicious apple fritters or could somehow materialize a bucket
       of popcorn to snack on as he drank in the story.
       About to ask more questions regarding how a pony like Fluttershy
       had managed to calm the apparently violent, wild and rampant
       beast, the writer paused when he saw Dash's smile, him starting
       to feel like something may be a little off here... Looking over
       to Applejack, he gave her a silent request for confirmation with
       his eyes, a look that was soon twisted into one of amusement as
       Dash brought up the subject of her barn again, him having
       forgotten about it and not noticed how shed left such a story
       out earlier.
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