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#Post#: 1293--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: February 14, 2014, 1:32 am
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"Heh, guess I don't have too much to worry about then," Darrus
said, imagining the old mare yelling at him over something only
to fall asleep mid sentence then wake back up with no knowledge
of what she's been doing. At the reminder of how he'd need to
prove himself around the farm, Darrus would have nodded and
cracked some joke over how he believed he would probably succeed
at such a thing over night while he was sleeping, but with the
box spring in the way and with his current, still incredibly
difficult to maintain, efforts to not say something dumb the
Pegasus figured it would just distract from the current task.
Was still nice of her to let him have an actual bed instead of
just the roof of the barn to hang over him as he snuggles up in
a pile of hay or something. He'd have to make this small
kindness up to her. Plenty of ways for him to do that. Some
involving the very same thing they were putting in the ba-No!
Bad, Darrus! If he had a water bottle on hoof, he'd splash
himself with it!
Once inside the barn and finished with setting up his new bed,
Darrus laid out on the mattress with a satisfied sigh, his legs
and wings stretched out as he laid on his back and enjoyed the
soft comfort of something actually designed to be slept on.
"Ahhhhhh.... That's nice..." He sighed with satisfaction before
rolling over to look at AJ.... He would *not* make some kind of
joke right now... Ugh... He deserved some kind of special
dessert for all this self control... A really speci- No! Bad!
"Alrighty! Sounds good!" The Pegasus replied to the mare,
flapping his wings to hover off the mattress and back to a
standing position beside it, him ignoring the protests of his
feathery limbs as they ached in response, "sooner I get it done
the sooner I'll be getting that rest and avoiding that bucket,
right? I'll head off and take care of that now, be back in a
bit!" ... He wasn't going to avoid that bucket. Darrus knew
this. He was tired and his wings were aching... He knew how he
was going to be woken up in the morning... Well, he had time to
prepare himself for it at least. Trotting towards the direction
of the barn's exit, Darrus paused momentarily to glance back at
AJ for a few seconds. He felt a smile come on as he looked her
way, him not sure if it was because of her or his pride in
himself over not having made any kind of advances on her since
his talk with Apple Bloom, but either way he didn't hold his
gaze on her for too long, him turning away and trotting off to
begin his on hoof trek back towards town to let Lamplight know
about their necessary change of plans.
#Post#: 1297--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: February 14, 2014, 6:06 am
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Applejack nodded at Darrus' farewell, and gave a simple "uh huh"
to him as she glanced idly around the barn, seeming to lose
herself in her thoughts for a moment before turning just in time
to see Darrus staring at her and smiling. It only lasted for
about a split second, but it was just long enough for Applejack
to raise her brow at him in question, though him turning and
walking fully out of the barn resulted in no answers. Shrugging
it off, Applejack exited the barn herself and went into her
house to retrieve the sheets for Darrus' bed. After bringing
them back to the barn and making Darrus' bed with them and
placing a couple of pillows on it, she went back inside and made
sure Apple Bloom was set for bed before following suit and
getting some rest for the next day to get Darrus up bright and
early.
So it was that Applejack began teaching him various things about
working on the farm, telling him different errands that had to
be managed weekly to keep productivity high, showing him
different tricks for how to stay efficient, and other such
things to make sure he was as valuable to her and the farm as he
could be. Every week she gave him two days off to do whatever he
wanted to do, and though she couldn't say what it was he really
did to spend his time off on those days, she was able to say
that he quickly began to show her that he was as every bit as
useful as he told her he'd be. He was a hard worker, a quick
learner, and those wings of his very useful around the farm. As
such, she quickly began paying him bits for working around the
farm and even eventually began to stop rolling her eyes at his
flirts, though she never did let him move into the actual house
with them.
Roughly one month passed like this, the weather beginning to
grow into fall, and apparently only one more month before the
start of the festival in Backstretch if what Darrus had told her
at one point was any indication. It was late afternoon now, and
Applejack and Darrus were doing the final touches of cleaning up
around the farm before the end of the night. When it all had
been finished, Applejack had retrieved a couple glasses of
lemonade for herself and Darrus, and had chosen to sit outside
on the porch as she drank it with him. "Talk about a long day...
Told you things start ta get harder 'round here closer ta cider
season, though." She sipped a bit from her lemonade before
continuing. "Whaddya say we get away from the farm fer a bit an'
see what's goin' on in town? Ah'd say we earned a lil' bit of a
rest."
#Post#: 1305--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: February 14, 2014, 10:57 am
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He was only now starting to get used to it really. The familiar
feeling he had whenever the days work was done and he was
allowed to just relax. It was a good one, a satisfying one, one
that brought him a mixture of relief and achy fatigue that made
simply sitting down on a porch with a glass of lemonade so much
more enjoyable that it would be had he not just spent the entire
day laying around on a cloud. He'd taken to this farm work
rather well after he'd gotten it into his head to get the right
amount of rest every night, a few encounters with a certain
bucket hammering that idea into his head, and not only that but
he was also enjoying it. He was helpful around here, and it felt
good to be able to do something with his hooves everyday instead
of wander around hoping to bump into something entertaining. The
clinking sound of bits in his bit pouch also tended to bring w
smile to his face. He'd promised shed be paying him to work here
before too long, and he was a little proud of how he'd been
accurate in his prediction.
Applejack herself also helped to make the days not just bearable
but pleasant as well. He'd been doing his best since he'd
arrived to be a little more careful with what he said around
her, his focused efforts on being a valuable farmhand hopefully
making up for whatever slip-ups he had with his tongue, but he
wasn't perfect, occasionally letting out one of his usual kinds
of jokes or flirting almost out of a deeply ingrained reflex
that would leave him wincing a little. Thankfully though, his
mess ups helped with gauging whether or not he was actually
making progress in getting on the mare's good side. While at
first shed been just as unimpressed to hear such things coming
from him, Darrus had noticed that over the course of the last
month she was beginning to become more friendly, his flirty
jokes having less of a negative effect as he assumed she either
was getting used to them or that he might actually be doing
something right around her.
"Yup," Darrus said in reply after AJ had mentioned this being a
rather full day, "its looking like these wings of mine, even
with their incredibly steely endurance, won't be carrying me
around too much till tomorrow if I want to prevent them from
falling off." Ah, yes, cider season was coming up relatively
fast here wasn't it? One month less of a wait at least, Darrus
briefly thinking back to that small pile of bits he'd set aside
after his first payday around the farm and labeled as his 'Sweet
Apple cider funds' as he again wondered just how good such a
beverage really was compared to the hype. Darrus took another
sip of his lemonade, then paused midway and raised his brow a
little in surprise at the next thing AJ had said. Did she just
invite him to spend time with her away from the farm? Huh...
"Why, Miss Applejack, are you asking me out?" Aaaand there was
that reflex again, it quickly being met with another counter
reflex of having his eyes flick towards the mares to gauge her
reaction to what he'd said, him then checking to see if he
should awkwardly take it back or let it stay as is. Taking a
final and mighty gulp of his drink to finish it off, Darrus
cleared his throat then gave a nod. "Sure, would love to go.
After all I do enjoy me some rest, and it sounds like it would
be an interesting time. Did you have anywhere specific in mind
for us to check out, or did you wanna just wander and see where
life takes us?"
#Post#: 1317--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: February 14, 2014, 6:37 pm
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At Darrus' knee-jerk reaction to Applejack's words, she gave a
slight grin as she shook her head a bit. She kind of expected
him to say something like that, but she couldn't really figure
out any other way to word things. Oh, well, not that his joke
really did any harm. She sipped a little bit more as he
responded seriously to her question, before shrugging a little
bit at his question. She then followed his lead and gulped down
the rest of her lemonade before setting the glass down on the
porch and standing up to stretch her limbs, including a little
arch of her back to try and exercise her tense back a bit.
"Ah guess either one really works, but Ah was thinkin' we could
head to the tavern an' get a couple drinks." She then began
walking through the orchards towards town before glancing out of
the corner of her eye to him. "Unless you just wanted ta wander
'round instead. Ah'm alright with that." She paused for a moment
before continuing. "So you an' Apple Bloom're takin' perty well
to each other. Ain't many grown ponies she has as friends... Ah
hope she hasn't been too much of a hoofful?"
#Post#: 1322--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: February 14, 2014, 7:58 pm
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A few drinks, huh? Darrus sure did like him some drinks, and the
idea of sharing them with AJ sounded quite nice, the pegasus not
letting himself think about how she was inviting him out to a
bar and possibly make another one of his jokes. Not really out
of trying to censor himself, but mostly because the material
given to him would have probably led to a simple repetition of
his earlier joke."Why choose one when we can do both? Let's
wander, but conveniently wander our way over to the tavern."
Now, the tavern was one of the few places Darrus knew the way to
by heart, it being the only other real hangout spot for him over
the course of this last month other than the farm itself, so he
less followed and more fell in step alongside the mare as she
mentioned her little sister.
"Heh, Apple Bloom being too much of a hoofful?" He chuckled,
shaking his head a little, "Nah, she's been fine. Lots of fun
actually. When she's with her friends though, then they can be a
bit of a hoofful, but its still nothing too bad. Nothing a
couple days rest can't hopefully mend. She's a good kid your
sister. Just like the rest of your family actually..." He said,
flashing AJ a smile. They didn't have to have let him stay after
they started paying him, he knew this. Once he'd been getting
bits for his work he could have been asked to look into using
them to find his own place to stay instead of hang around in
their barn like he was, or asked to spend them on his own food
instead of continue to invite him to their own meals. But they
didn't ask him to leave, or stop sharing their food. Instead
they only continued to welcome him... "... How much longer until
cider season starts up proper?" He asked after a few moments of
silence, looking forward again as they made their way through
the orchard."... Uh... I was wondering when I should start
preparing my wings and legs for it."
#Post#: 1324--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: February 14, 2014, 8:26 pm
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Smiling a little bit in familiarity of the scenario Darrus'
described, Applejack nodded in agreement when he mentioned all
three of the fillies together were difficult to handle. All
those ideas of theirs, and all that enthusiasm... Still, the
smile on her face widened slightly as Darrus complimented her
family, flashing her own smile to him for a moment before
turning her attention forward as well. "Well, we usually try ta
treat each other right. Family's one o' the most important
things you kin have, after all," she said, looking wistful for a
few moments as she walked along beside Darrus.
Then, when he spoke up again and asked about cider season,
Applejack glanced over to him once more, not really surprised by
his asking about such an important event. Though his sudden
explanation of why he was asking did make her a little
suspicious... "Ah'd say about... a month an' a half longer? We
usually try ta do it 'round the middle o' fall, when the
season's right fer cider, an' we're reachin' the end o' our
apple harvest fer the year. Ah'm lookin' forward to it,
personally. It brings in so much profit fer the farm, an' it's
kind of a Ponyville tradition. Plus, every year, we set a lil'
bit o' cider to the side fer ourselves. Make it a lil' bit
stronger than what we sell. So Ah'm lookin' forward to gettin'
into a lil' bit o' cider mahself... Anyway, how's Ponyville been
treatin' you all this time? When yer not 'round here, at least."
#Post#: 1348--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: February 15, 2014, 2:39 pm
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Hm... Family... When was the last time Darrus had seen his own
family? Truth be told, such a connection that was so deeply
loved by most wasn't all that impoetnant to the stallion. He
liked his family, sure, but he didn't consider himself the type
to make frequent visits to see them. In fact... after thinking
about it, he remembered now that the last time he'd truly been
with his family was probably right before he left Cloudsdale for
the first time. That was years ago. The way Applejack looked
when she spoke of the importance of family made Darrus wonder
about the idea of being so tied down to one place by such a
thing...
Just a month and a half away, he acknowledged in his mind, the
idea of sipping the supposedly high quality cider that was
produced here on this farm causing another smile to brighten his
features. Not only would achiving his goal of trying the highly
acclaimed drink for himself be achieved before too long, but the
mention of how the Apple family strengthened the reserved cider
they kept for themselves got him even more excited at the idea.
Surely they would be willing to share some of this special cider
with their favoritest most bestest farmhoof ever, right?
"It's surely been built up in terms of reputation," he
commented, said reputation of course having been so good that it
managed to bring him here to begin with, "I've been catching
bits and pieces of conversations when I head into town, and it
seems more than a number of ponies are thinking about cider
season themselves. I think I heard a mare voice just the other
day talking to somepony about trying to get her hooves on entire
barrels of the stuff all for herself. Might have mentioned
something about camping to avoid a line or some such as well. Do
ponies really line up outside of taverns for your guys' cider?
"As for Ponyville, its been a nice town. Ponies around here have
been pretty pleasant whenever I talked with them, but that tends
to not be terribly often seeing how I tend to go to the same few
places on my off time. Steady schedule of interesting things
tend to happen around here though, that's for sure. Has
definitely been worth the stop for me so far."
#Post#: 1780--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: March 17, 2014, 8:34 am
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Applejack just grinned a little bit when Darrus talked about
ponies trying to get their hooves on entire barrels of their
cider, and about camping in line to try and guarantee they'd get
cider. He didn't even know the half of it, did he? Especially
since he was talking about them lining outside of taverns...
Then as he talked about Ponyville and gave it an accurate
description of it being a pleasant place with interesting
things, Applejack nodded slightly in confirmation, then remained
silent after he mentioned stopping in Ponyville having been
worth it so far, her mind tossing around an idea. She stayed
this way the rest of the way towards the tavern, obviously
looking a little lost in thought as she held her gaze on the
ground ahead of them.
Once they had reached the Guiding Light, Applejack lead the way
inside and to a table she usually occupied whenever she visited
the place before finally speaking up after settling in. "It's
been nice, havin' new blood on the farm with us--somepony who
ain't family. Havin' somepony around while Ah work ta talk to
an' interact with. Big Mac's perty much a statue, an' Apple
Bloom's got her friends ta worry 'bout... Well, you know all
that, but the point is, Ah'm glad ya stopped in Ponyville, too.
An' that Ah decided ta give you a chance," she said playfully,
grinning a little bit to him before continuing. "As fer yer
question 'bout ponies linin' up... Yep. That they do. An' it
ain't surprisin' ta see it a mile long or some such," she said
with a shrug, making it hard to tell if that was an
exaggeration. "They don't line up outside o' taverns, though.
They line up outside the farm. That stall Ah've been makin' you
spruce up a lil' bit lately? That's the stall we use ta sell the
cider from.
"Anyway, whaddya wanna drink? Mah treat."
((One month later and there's finally a post. Yay setbacks x.x))
#Post#: 1827--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: March 21, 2014, 8:55 pm
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The grin, Darrus assumed, was a confirmation that what he'd
heard was true, his already strong interest in trying the famous
cider somehow managing to boost further as he imagined dozens of
ponies just waiting in line for who knows how long just to try
and get a taste for themselves. The following silence between
the rusty stallion and orange farm mare allowed him the freedom
to daydream about his goal, though as the minutes wore on and
they continued to walk in silence, Darrus became curious as to
what it was about. Maybe AJ was just thinking about preparations
for cider season herself? Darrus supposed that could be what she
was looking so thoughtful over, and he decided to just run with
the assumption after a few attempts at trying to think of
something to say next only led to him briefly opening his mouth
slightly a few times before dismissing whatever he was about to
say.
Darrus went back to thinking about the upcoming season of cider
until they came up to and entered the tavern, AJ finally
breaking the silence once inside and settled to express her
opinion on how things had been since he'd shown up looking for
the job on the farm. "Yeah," the pegasus replied with a small
smile, him having sat down across from her and felt a touch
surprised at how she was talking about being glad he'd stayed,
"its been good... Certainly different for me, that's for sure. I
can't remember the last time I hung around somewhere for this
long..." Kind of trailing off a bit, Darrus felt his smile stay
steady as, while AJ had become friendlier and friendlier towards
him the more time he spent around her, he wasn't expecting her
to flat out say she was glad he had come to town... He looked
down at the table for a few moments after that, thoughts going
through his mind as he continued to listen to the mare.
One of the other things Applejack said that ended up sticking
with the stallion was the simple pointing of how he 'knew all
that' already. He sure was getting familiar around here, Darrus'
wings involuntarily flexing a bit at the thought before he
pulled himself back to the present moment. "Heh. 'Chance'." He
repeated back to the mare, voice carrying a cocky tone to
counter her playfulness, Darrus grinning back before losing some
of its edge at the revelation of where exactly the masses went
for their fix of seasonal cider. A mile long line? Did this
little town even have enough ponies to form a line that long?
Darrus wasn't sure, but at the same time he had no real reason
to doubt such a claim. Could be the truth. Could be a joke. The
idea of serving who knows how many ponies one by one from behind
that stall he'd been working on sounded a touch far fetched
though...
"Aww, you spoil me!" Darrus joked when asked what he wanted,
"uh... Well, with all this talk of cider it sure has made me
thirsty for some... Not sure if I should save that for the real
deal though. Eh... Just order me a Buckin' Good Time."
#Post#: 1853--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: March 23, 2014, 8:10 pm
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Applejack just smirked a little bit at Darrus' joke about a
craving for apple cider. She had to agree that she had a bit of
a craving for it as well, but she couldn't spoil it for herself
just yet. It was always just something of a tradition... "One
Buckin' Good Time it is, then," she acknowledged as she moved to
get up. "Prolly is better if ya wait fer the cider. Just makes
it all that better when it finally comes time ta drink it," she
said before finally turning to find Lamplight so she could order
their drinks. After ordering both a Mudslide and a Buckin' Good
Time from the mare, she returned to the table and sat down, one
hoof reaching up to adjust the hat on her head. "So... Why is it
you don't stay anywhere fer long? Ah mean... Ah remember you
tellin' me that you had a case o' 'wanderlust' when Ah first met
ya... But there's gotta be some reason other than that?" She
hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "Maybe a better
question would be: why'd ya start wanderin' in the first place?"
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