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#Post#: 487--------------------------------------------------
Derivation
By: Darrus Date: January 8, 2014, 9:36 am
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A quick pop into the tavern to listen in on a couple of ponies
drunkenly point out how they both felt that the other had
somehow copied how they were dressed, even though they were both
naked, had led Darrus to believing that he had possibly chosen a
bad time when it came to looking for leads on available and
paying work. Abandoning that location for now, the pegasus
decided to hit up the "best place to start" as according to the
mare who'd helped him find his way around, him trotting back
outside then taking back off into the sky... only to realize
that wasn't the best method of travel with his wings still
aching, the easy to ignore pain still serving as a clear enough
warning that he shouldn't push himself too far... again.
Returning to having his hooves on the ground, the stallion was
forced to go by the simple directions given to him and shortly
lived flights upwards to try and catch a glimpse of any apple
trees in the distance to guide himself towards the farm he
searched for.
Even without the constant aid of his wings, it wasn't too
difficult to find his way, the apple trees he was scanning for
being quite plenty and managing to draw him close enough to be
within the farms land. However, in a slightly wily move on his
part possibly driven by hunger, Darrus had, instead of following
the road, wandered into the trees him happily letting his eyes
be just as adventurous as they skipped their focus from apple to
apple, his mind starting to become more and more interested in
the fruit as his belly reminded him of how he'd only had grass
to eat the last few days. If the cider he was hoping to try was
as good as he'd heard, then the apples used to make it should be
pretty gosh darn tasty too... Only now lowering his gaze from
the hanging natural sweets, Darrus noticed the trees now were
starting to have crates and other containers set around the base
of their trunks, the apples of those trees having been picked
clean then gathered so as to transport them. Well, seemed this
was the part of the orchard being harvested at this time, which
meant he'd probably bump into somepony eventually... And all
those apples just sitting there at the moment... Hmm...
Darrus began to hear a small part of his mind akin to a devil
sitting on his shoulder start to tempt him with the idea of
sneaking just one of the smaller itty bitty apples away to try
for himself, both to satiate his new hunger and to test to see
if the advertised cider was indeed as promising as he'd heard.
But with every devil there came an angel to match, another part
of him just urging him to simply Friggin wait until after he
knew if he'd be given work by the fruits owners, then just ask
on a lunch break or something to have a couple apples or maybe
pick one off of the far trees if he was sent away... Either way,
there was no harm in at least enjoying the smell of them, right?
Trotting closer to one of the gloriously full crates simply
stuffed with apples, Darrus took a long sniff, mouth beginning
to water due to the close proximity of so many red delicious...
Darrus was starting to stare now, his cautionary glances around
to see if anypony was nearby ceasing as he started to have silly
thoughts such as "just one bite. One bite, then they can cut
around it and it will still be perfectly good, right?"
#Post#: 503--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: January 9, 2014, 8:58 am
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Grinning a bit, Applejack tossed a ball up with her hoof a few
times, gaze locked onto a tail-wagging and tongue-lolling Winona
as her eyes followed the ball being tossed. Playfully, Applejack
moved as if to toss the ball, but paused halfway through the
tossing motion, causing Winona to turn on a paw and start to
trot away to follow it. She paused upon realizing the trick
Applejack played on her, to which she turned back around and
barked in protest at Applejack.
Applejack gave a giggle in response and said, "Gotcha again
girl! Who's a silly doggy~? A'ight, go get it!!" she urged,
cocking her hoof back before tossing her ball far into the
orchard. Winona dashed off after it, and in the meantime,
Applejack took up the almost-empty glass of lemonade and chugged
the rest of it. She gave a quiet sigh at the tastiness of the
drink, then grinned once more as Winona returned, dropping the
ball at Applejack's hooves before licking Applejack's face as
she scratched Winona behind her ears. "Ah think you mighta
broken yer record, Winona. Good girl," Applejack said, hugging
the collie against her for a moment, only to blink as Winona
broke away from the embrace and moved away a little bit to move
in a couple of circles, then look at Applejack as if expecting
something.
Usually, Winona only did that when she wanted Applejack to
follow her... "Ah swear Winona, if yer just gonna show me
another place you buried a bone... Well, Ah dunno what Ah'll do,
but Ah got a job ta do," she whined as she began following the
dog into her orchard, her mouth quirked to the side from
expecting it to lead to nothing special. To her surprise
however, it wasn't nothing. Winona had apparently caught the
scent of a strange stallion in the orchard, who... from the
looks of things, was glancing around a little shiftily in front
of one of her baskets filled with apples.
Pushing her hat a little further down on her head, Applejack
approached the stallion, her head dipping briefly to pluck a
longer weed up from the ground, which she set in the corner of
her mouth, teeth idly and gently chewing on the end of the weed.
When she got close enough to the stallion she cleared her
throat, hat mostly blocking her eyes from view. "Ya know, we
don't appreciate thievery 'round these parts. Most folk tend ta
think askin' first is the right thing ta do. You mind explainin'
what yer doin' here, stranger?" Applejack asked, Winona standing
beside her with her tail still wagging and her tongue still
hanging out of the side of her mouth.
#Post#: 505--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: January 9, 2014, 10:19 am
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If he ate the core and just spit the seeds out there would be
no... serious evidence left behind... Nothing that could be
traced back to him at least... And Darrus doubted that the
apples were counted very carefully when they were picked, just
pulled off the branches then dropped into a container to be
moved. Would waste time to try and keep track of the exact
number, time that could be spent just picking more apples, so
unless the ponies in charge around here were really good at
keeping an increasingly large number in their minds at all times
as they went from tree to tree, an apple or two going missing
probably wouldn't even cause the tiniest of ripples in the pond
of life. "Do eet." The devil on his shoulder urged, poking him
with his trident and whispering fiendishly. "Neigh, wait." The
angel opposite demanded, most likely glaring at the devil if
either actually physically existed.
Then Darrus heard the sounds of barking, which he promptly
ignored as his eyes stayed glued to the feast of fruit before
him. It wasn't until the barking grew louder... and he was
directly challenged by the sources owner that he was able to
look away, the angel laughing at both him and the devil now that
they'd been caught before the two conflicting sides left the
stallion be. Turning away from the apples he'd been almost
drooling over, Darrus, having been caught red-hoofed doing much
worse in the past, tried to play it off as no big deal, smiling
and taking a few steps away from the fruit before leaning on the
tree it had grown from, though he doubted she was fully able to
see what he was doing from under her hat since he couldn't see
her eyes.
Well. She didn't look very happy. Catching a pony contemplating
theft of somepony else's property tended to do that, though, so
he couldn't really blame her, and farm ponies from his
experience can get pretty hostile from having so much property
to protect. Still, despite his slight concern that he'd possibly
blown his chance to get some work, he took comfort in how the
dog with the mare seemed happy enough. If both weren't happy by
his presence, well, that would just be unpleasant for all. "Uh,
yeah, sure. Of course." He said in response to explaining
himself, trying to be as casual as he could. "I was actually
hoping to bump into somepony to talk about these here apples and
more, so I'm glad we found each other after I randomly got
myself lost by leaving the road.
"My names Darrus, I'm recently arrived in town and was asking
around about a few things that could help me out while I'm here,
one of those things being a steady flow of bits, and I was
directed to this here orchard of yours to start looking for
work. I assume you work here," his eyes flicked to her cutie
mark, it being a pretty obvious sign that she wasn't just seeing
the sights, "are you the farm's owner, or can you point me in
their direction? I want to wow either you or them and convince
them that they've been waiting all their lives just to hire me."
#Post#: 515--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: January 9, 2014, 7:42 pm
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Applejack perked her ears up a little bit as the stallion began
speaking, her gaze held to the side underneath her hat and onto
Winona. It wasn't so strange for her to be acting so happy
around a stranger, but usually when she found somepony lurking
around, she looked a lot less so... She rolled her eyes
underneath her hat when he mentioned 'randomly' getting lost.
Likely story, that was about as believable as any one of
Rainbow's embellished tales. As Darrus continued, Applejack
continued to hold her gaze on the collie beside her, the long
weed in her mouth slowly rolling to the other corner of her
lips. Another pony looking for work, probably thinking it would
be an easy job...
When Darrus finished with his arrogant words, Applejack rose a
hoof to tip up the edge of her hat, her gaze calculating as she
examined him, the weed in her mouth rolling back to the other
side of her mouth as she contemplated. This pony wanted to show
her why she wanted to hire him? He barely looked like he'd
stepped on a farm before, his mane was unkempt, and what was the
deal with the cloak? Tipping her hat further back on her head,
Applejack straightened her posture up a little bit and brought a
hoof over to gently scratch Winona behind her ears.
"The owner o' these here orchards would be me, stranger. Name's
Applejack. Yer gonna hafta do some perty good convincin' if you
really want me ta even consider hirin' you. Me an' mah brother
kin do most o' the work 'round here just fine, Ah ain't sure if
Ah want or need another set o' hooves to hafta worry 'bout. So
tell me why you think Ah should hire you. An' maybe while yer at
it, you kin tell me how you 'randomly got yerself lost' if you
were lookin' fer mah farm in the first place..."
#Post#: 516--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: January 9, 2014, 8:27 pm
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Gosh darn, Darrus thought at the mares suspicion over his gotten
lost, her being named Applejack which he probably could have
guessed from what Honey had told him earlier. Well... Maybe he
wasn't completely lost. Having traveled around as much as he had
the stallion had developed a pretty good sense of direction. If
he needed to he could probably easily find his way back to the
road he'd abandoned, but at the same time if shown a map he'd be
unable to point out where exactly he was nor how to plan out how
to get anywhere using it. So he was still... technically lost...
Maybe?
"Ehhh... I guess I should be a bit more clear. I've got a bad
case of the wanderlust deep down in my core, you see, so often
times I'll take the scenic route when going places. I was
looking for your farm, yeah, but I strayed off the road and got
a bit distracted by all the trees and apples. Wouldn't have
happened normally since I usually fly because, well, obvious,"
the stallion extended a wing, it protesting this with a dull
throb but being again ignored before being folded back under his
cloak, "but I've spent the last few days doing nothing but
flying all day so they needed a break. I was still looking for
your farm, and I'm sure I'd have found it eventually, but the
detour through the trees just kinda happened. Sure worked out
this way though, right?" He said with a small shrug, still
appearing confident with a big ol' smile, "just happened to bump
into you out here in this particular part of your rather sizable
orchard. And hey! We even have the same colored eyes. This must
surely be a sign of either you and I being meant to be together,
or that you'll hire me.
"And why would you want to hire me, you ask? Why, that's simple.
It's because I can do any job you've got, can probably do it
better than most other walk ins, and am willing to work for
small change. So, hard and dedicated worker that doesn't even
cost much. Go ahead, give me something to do right now and I'll
do it for free just to show off and possibly cause you to invite
me to dinner." He dusted off his shoulder as he said this,
there, of course, not having been anything for him to hve dusted
off to begin with.
#Post#: 521--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: January 10, 2014, 12:38 am
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Applejack stared idly at Darrus as he explained himself further
on his words, gaze still judging of him and every word he spoke
to her in an attempt to get her to hire him. A case of
wanderlust? That wasn't good for his chances. If she was hiring,
she'd need somepony she knew would be reliable... She still had
to admit to herself she was a little bit confused by his
story... But whatever. Was it really that big of a deal? How he
got there barely mattered. The why did matter though, and
Applejack only continued to stare as Darrus offered his large
grin, and mentioned their similarly colored eyes being some kind
of sign between them. Flattery now? What kind of mare did he
think she was?
Then, confidence. He said he'd be able to do any job he was
given better than any other pony off the street; something
Applejack had heard before. Plus the whole 'I'll do whatever,
just give the word'. So far, this was seeming like every other
attempt to get what most ponies thought might be an 'easy' job
on the farm... "You ain't the first pony ta come along lookin'
fer a job 'round these parts. Each one of 'em said a lotta
things similar to what you said, an' Ah turned every one of 'em
away. Work on the farm ain't easy," she said, having moved over
to one of the nearby trees. As she said this, she turned her
back to the tree and slammed her back hooves into the bark, the
bounty of apples falling cleanly into the crates and baskets
below, her gaze locked onto Darrus for a moment to gauge his
reaction.
"An' it ain't perty. Ya gotta sweat, get yer hooves dirty, make
yer body ache. Ya gotta be efficient and not movin' like a
turtle tryin'a swim through a pool o' molasses... So don't count
yer apples before they bud. Follow me," she ordered before
heading off further into the orchard. She waited until he caught
up to her before continuing. "If you got a 'bad case o'
wanderlust', how do Ah know you'd be a pony Ah could count on,
if Ah hired ya? How do Ah know you wouldn't just disappear the
next time ya got bored or things got too hard 'round here--which
they will? An' why don't you tell me about some o' the last jobs
you've had in the past, an why you've moved on?"
#Post#: 522--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: January 10, 2014, 1:35 am
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Darrus wasn't the first pony hoping to get a job on a famous
farm? No surprise there. Each one said a lot of things similar
to what he had? Ha! Maybe, but they didn't have what it took to
back it up he was sure. She turned all of the others away
because shed been waiting for him to arrive even if she didn't
know it, or so Darrus was silently joking in his mind. And, of
course, Applejack warned the pegasus that the normal physically
demanding work expected on a farm was no walk in the park.
Darrus, while not exactly an expert on this kind of career,
wasn't expecting anything less and firmly held his confident
smile, him knowing he was in excellent physical condition and
probably well prepared for the tasks that would be given to him.
Watching AJ buck the apple tree to harvest its fruit in one blow
only caused the stallions brow to be raised slightly. Huh. So
that's how its done. Was a lot faster than picking each apple as
he'd originally assumed, but, thinking about it, it would have
probably taken waaaaay too long to do it that way. The whole
bucking a tree thing would take some serious getting used too...
He wasn't worried about it hurting or anything, but he was
trying to figure out how exactly one went about doing such a
thing without either harming themselves or shaking free only a
few apples.
"I hope I haven't given the impression that I spend my free
hours at the spa," he replied as he pushed himself off of the
tree and began to follow the mare, "getting dirty and breaking a
sweat while on the job is no issue with me, and, once my wings
are feeling better, you'll be seeing me zipping about like a bee
busy at work. No being stuck in molasses for me." Catching up to
her, Darrus gave Applejack's pet dog a glance then went back to
looking around at the surrounding apple trees. Darn, he'd just
met the mare and she was already worried he'd just stop showing
up to work after she hired him...
"The lust is only a real problem when I don't have anything to
focus on." he answered with a side glance at the mare with a
smirk, still not looking very bothered or worried but having his
features take on a more serious shade as he spoke.
"Unfortunately, since I'm new in town and you're the first pony
I came to about this, I don't have any past employers who can be
used as references that can be contacted without spending a few
weeks sending letters out, so I have no way of giving anything
beyond my word when I say I've never abandoned a job before.
Whenever it was time for me to move on, I always let my
employers know beforehoof and finished whatever I was doing for
them." He was being honest, but, because he had nothing to show
to verify it, he could only hope the tone of his word and his
efforts should she hire him would be enough to prove it to her.
"As for previous work, its mostly just labor. You know, a
construction sight looking for an extra pair of hooves to carry
things around, a moving company wanting a temp to take some of
the load off of their shoulders, painters working on a shop
willing to throw some money at a pegasus looking to make a quick
bit, that kind of stuff. I've also done other things like retail
and assembly, though I doubt that'll come in handy at all. I
also know how to make candles. So I'm a perfect fit!"
#Post#: 525--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: January 10, 2014, 8:07 am
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Applejack idly glanced to Darrus out of the corner of her eye as
he began to explain his wanderlust, saying that he'd never
abandoned a job before. He at least sounded like he was being
serious about it, so she could give him the benefit of the doubt
there. Even if it was still a large risk. Still, maybe an extra
pair of hooves around the farm might not be such a bad idea
after so much time. She didn't need it before, but with
everything that had happened to her just in the past year... It
might be nice to have some sort of contingency plan, so the work
would still be manageable if she had to disappear suddenly.
Regardless, she did have to see if he was worth his salt. No
sense hiring help at all if he couldn't do it. He sounded like
he was confident in his abilities, but who was to say he didn't
just do the bare minimum work needed? First off, she needed to
test his strength, so... "Pick up that crate and carry it back
with us on our way to the house. Or do yer best, at least," she
said after stopping and pointing to the crate full of apples in
question. "An' while yer at it, tell me about yer last job, an'
tell me why yer interested in workin' here on mah farm. What
kinda schedule were you lookin' for--how many days workin' and
how many days off?"
#Post#: 527--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: January 10, 2014, 8:47 am
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"You got it," Darrus replied without missing a beat, trotting
towards the crate, "and, psh, I might just do my worst and still
impress, just you watch." He added with a wink at the mare
before sizing up the crate before him. It was big, full, and
doing a good job of reminding him how he really really wanted to
try one of these apples... Looked heavy. No surprise there.
Shouldn't be too bad though, he figured as he reached down to
pick it up. With a small grunt, the stallion lifted the crate,
him having underestimated its weight by a small margin but
adapted quickly and managed to get it up and onto his back, him
then lifting up his achy wings so as to keep them on both sides
of the crate and keep it firmly in place, the act managing to
cause his cloak to be lifted up as well. He continued to look
confident as he returned to the mare, steps heavier from the
added weight but not slowing him down.
"No problem," he boasted once he was near her again, "heck, this
is nothin. If you wanted, I could probably carry both the crate
and you all the way back to your house too if you wanted the
ride." Darrus added with a smirk before moving on to her
question. "Welp, I wasn't randomly picking that candle making
thing out of my past from nowhere. The last job I had was
helping a chandler at his shop. Worked after hours to help him
make his candles and refill his stock. Was a pretty nice job,
could get fun and messy in occasion, and it always always
smelled sooooo good in his shop.
"I'm interested in working on your farm because its something I
know I can handle," he continued, gritting his teeth slightly as
he readjusted the balance of the crate in his back, "you were
recommended to me as being the first pony I should look to for
work, and then the fates decreed that we should meet among the
trees so I personally believe this was a good call. Right now,
I've got absolutely nothing else going on in this town, so my
schedule is non-existent, making it pretty darn flexible really.
I can and am willing to work however you want whenever you want
for as long as you want..."
His tone was a bit lower as he said this, him again shining a
smile in Applejacks direction but sounding and looking a bit
more flirty now, though a stumbled step after hed caught his
hoof on a rock cut that off rather quickly as he worked to keep
his balance, him losing a couple apples as he struggled for a
couple seconds and having them fall to the ground. Without
comment, the stallion, looking slightly sheepish now, picked up
each of the fallen fruit, tossing them into the air above him
without looking to be paying that much attention to the but
having them all be tossed right back into the crate where they
belonged.
#Post#: 547--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: January 11, 2014, 8:26 pm
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With a critical eye, Applejack watched Darrus as he approached
the crate of apples, mostly ignoring his c'ocky joke and his
wink as she waited for him to lift it. She crossed one of her
forehooves on front of the other as she stood and watched, eyes
examining him and every movement he made when he finally lifted
the crate onto his back. Didn't seem like he had too much
trouble. Not quite as strong as Big Mac, but then, he also
wasn't quite as big. So he passed there. Well, so far. Now he
just had to walk with it.
Turning to continue walking towards her house, Applejack walked
beside Darrus, gaze moving over to him out of the corner of her
eye every so often. So his last job was working for a
candlemaker. She wasn't too sure how that would really tie into
working at a farm, but the working after-hours thing sounded
good. Must have been nice smelling all those different kinds of
candles though. And he 'knows' farm work is something he can
handle? He's almost as bad as Rainbow Dash.
She wasn't surprised when Darrus mentioned somepony recommending
her for work. It made sense from an outside point of view, even
if it just wasn't something she really needed. But that was good
about his schedule. If he was going to work for her, she was
going to ride him long and--she shuddered a little bit as she
quickly shook her head to clear. Not what she meant. When he
stumbled over the rock moments after his ridiculous attempt at
flirting, Applejack gave an almost inaudible, derisive snort in
response.
"Real smooth, stranger. How 'bout ya focus on the prize, instead
o' me? You ain't gonna do yerself any favors tryin'a flatter me.
No offense, but ya don't exactly seem like mah type o' stallion.
Few more questions--these should be the last ones. What
motivates you an' gets you up in the mornin'? What kin you offer
that somepony else cain't? An' how d'you handle pressure?"
As she asked these questions, Applejack had brought them back to
her house and had begun walking around it to lead them to a tree
stump, where a pile of uncut timber lay. She walked over to the
pile and took one of the logs to set on top of the stump. Time
to test his manual dexterity. "Just one more task for ya. Ah
want ya to chop a couple o' these logs inta firewood fer me,"
she told him, taking the nearby axe and dragging it over to him.
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