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#Post#: 1890--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: March 27, 2014, 3:24 am
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"Probably," Darrus agreed as AJ left to get their drinks, the
rusty red pegasus glancing towards the bar she was headed
towards and giving a small wave hello to the the mare who owned
the tavern after catching her eye for a moment, the stallion
having made a friend of Lamplight during his time in Ponyville
and often coming by during his free time to hang around or
occasionally help out. While the mare he'd arrived with was off
getting their drinks Darrus tapped a hoof on the table he and AJ
had claimed as their own for the night, the pegasus now doing
some quick and dirty math in trying to estimate whether or not
the number of ponies he'd seen around town could indeed form a
line that stretched an entire mile in length. Having his work
amount mostly to a simple "I dunno, maybe?" his mathematical
conclusion was questionable at best.
Being snapped out of his pretty fruitless exercise of his
education by the return of Applejack, Darrus smiled and gave a
quick "Thanks" before pulling his mug closer and then lifting it
up for a long sip, one that was paused halfway when she asked
her first question and finished by the time shed began asking
her second, it being met with another sip, this one more for
buying time it would seem. The first question wasn't exactly
new. Many pokies he's come across, especially his employers,
would occasionally bring it up out of curiosity or in an attempt
of understanding their temporary employee better, so he'd worked
out a repeatable and jokey response to rattle off whenever it
came up. How'd it go again... Something like: 'Why would I want
to stick to one place? Worlds huge! Lots to see and experience,
and it would be a crime not to try everything I can while I'm
still young enough to out fly the trouble it might bring me
along the way.' Something like that, give or take a sentence or
two of improve.
For some reason his mind and mouth didn't click together to say
such a thing right away though, him instead just prolonging his
second sip as, for some reason,his kind actually worked to try
and answer the question for once. It was weird, and Darrus
didn't really enjoy the feeling, his mug eventually finding its
way back to the table where it was pushed around a little
between his front hooves. That second question was tripping him
up a little, his brain apparently hitting some kind of wall with
it. Again, it would be a lie to say he'd never heard it before,
but whenever it did come up he'd usually just brush it off as
being 'in the past' then, if they persisted, re-word his first
answer to fit the second question. Now though... "Uh..." He
began lamely, more just to show he hadn't suddenly lost the
ability to speak than to start an answer he hadn't formed in his
head yet, "just... You know... I like traveling?" Real good.
Nope, was the best answer in fact and totally didn't make it
clear he was throwing the first thing he could think of out
there. "Um... I mean... Couldn't more places use a little
Darrus? ... Hehe...." The best end to the best answer. A
facehoof awaited Darrus in the future once the required privacy
was granted to him.
"Well, if you had the chance to see the world, wouldn't you take
it?" Darrus threw out there to cover his tracks, trying his best
to pick up his usual tone and attitude again, "Think about it,
going anywhere whenever you wanted and seeing something New
wherever you went. New foods, new ponies, new sights, everything
would always be fresh and exciting, so why would I want to stick
to one place? Worlds huge! Lots to see and..." Hm. Well, there
it was. He hadn't even noticed he'd managed to get back into his
memorized response until a portion of the way through. That
was... good? Another sip of his drink as he left his answer
hanging at "and", the stallion thinking about what he'd said and
having his eyes lose a bit of their shine in the process.
Clearing his throat once his mug was again resting on the wooden
surface of the table, Darrus slapped on a smile just for the
sake of wearing a smile and try to make up for what was probably
a disaster of an answer to any sensible pony.
"Sorry..." He apologized a little awkwardly as he struggled for
something to say, deciding to be a little bit more honest and
direct, "its just a... Really long story, and I don't know if
you really would want to hear all of it... anyway... Um... You
know, there's something I've actually been wondering since I've
met you," he started, hoping to put the other stuff behind them
and move on to something he was much more comfortable with, the
idea of AJ just suddenly forgetting about it and his almost
embarrassing way of answering being kind of far get he'd but
worth a dream, "that hat of yours. I never see you without it.
How long have you had it for? And where'd you pick it up?"
#Post#: 1964--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: April 1, 2014, 8:37 am
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As she waited for Darrus to finish sipping from his mug and
respond to her question, Applejack rose her own mug to her lips
and took a small sip from the beverage. After taking the sip,
Applejack grinned a little bit, savoring the coffee and
chocolate taste before looking past the mug and to Darrus as he
hesitantly spoke up, earning a raised brow from Applejack. That
was a bit unlike him, responding so unconfidently like that. It
clued her in that maybe there was something more to his
wanderlust than the reason he gave. But, he was choosing to lie
and hide something for some reason Applejack couldn't fathom. He
surely had a... reason--good or not withstanding--but he
could've at least told her it wasn't something he liked talking
about rather than being evasive about it. It certainly would've
been less insulting.
He then followed that up with asking if she'd take the
opportunity to see the world if she had one, causing her to
glance down to the table in front of her with a light frown,
various things coming to mind as she thought briefly about that.
She only lifted her gaze when he mentioned it was a long story
and asked about her hat, resulting in her smiling wistfully,
almost sadly, as she rose a hoof to take the Stetson from her
head so she could look at it better. "It was a gift from mah
daddy. Used ta be his favorite hat, 'afore he gave it ta me on
mah birthday. Ah got a... few more back at home, but this one's
special." She then returned the hat to her head before taking
another drink from her alcohol and responding to Darrus'
previous question. "As fer takin' the opportunity ta see the
world if Ah got a chance... Bein' an Element o' Harmony's...
been interestin'. Ah've tried drivin' off a dragon, Ah've been
to the Crystal Empire back when Princess Cadance went there,
Ah've been ta Cloudsdale an' Manehattan, Canterlot a few
times--like when the changelin's attacked, an' Ah've faced
timberwolves an' chimeras both.
"It's all been excitin', sure, but... Ah like the stability o'
the farm an' livin' in Ponyville. Ah know Ah got a life here,
an' a place Ah kin be friends with a lot o' ponies. So... if I
had the ooportunity ta see the world: no, Ah wouldn't. Not when
Ah got everythin' Ah need here." She then took the opportunity
to drink yet again before adding on to the end, "And Ah wouldn't
mind hearin' that 'long story' o' yers some time. Outta
curiosity, when'd you figger out you were good with accuracy?"
#Post#: 1967--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: April 1, 2014, 12:33 pm
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Her dad's hat. No wonder she seemed to always have it, what with
how important family was to her. Definitely was the type to
treasure something like that. Darrus couldn't say the same about
himself. Most of his possessions were mostly just things in his
mind, stuff to use and discard once they weren't useful anymore.
Except for a choice few items he often carried with him, but
those, along with his dagger and throwing knife, were currently
locked away in that very same tavern they were enjoying their
drinks in. Even then none of then carried the same kind of value
as that hat probably did for AJ.
Lifting his mug again as the mare moved on to answer his
question of if she would travel, Darrus sipped his drink and
kind of just checked such an idea off as having already been
accomplished or at least would be soon based off of what she was
telling him. Crystal Empire, Manehatten, Cloudsdale, shed
certainly been around already, and with her status as one of the
bearers of the elements of harmony, something Darrus still
needed to occasionally remind himself was actually true, it
seemed like it was only a matter of time before that list of
places shed seen would grow longer despite her own reluctance to
travel. Her enjoyment of the stability the farm brought her
though... Darrus, after spending time there himself, could see
how it could be relaxing and nice, but he was even now still
needing to adjust to such an environment as he waited for cider
season to roll around. Still made his wings twitch a bit when he
thought about how long he'd stayed here already.
"Heh, why waste time with my story when you've got so many
better ones?" Darrus replied, pulling a complete 180 on his
usual boasting as he claimed his long story wouldn't actually
even be interesting instead pf the most interesting thing
anypony could ever hope to be lucky enough to hear. "I mean,
chimeras? Come on, you'll have to tell em about that sometime.
As for my special talent, well, I kind of always sorta knew more
or less from an early age. Always hitting my mark with
everything from hoof thrown stones to slingshots definitely made
the eventual appearance of my cutie mark not be the most
shocking of revelations. Some of the adults around me just kinda
groaned when they saw it actually casue then they knew I had an
excuse to throw things more often. The actual moment where it
became certain though, and my cutie mark came to me... Hmm...
"I was playing with my grandfather's old bow," he recounted,
tapping a hoof on his chin as he tried to recall, "I'd set up my
own shooting range made up of toys and knick knacks out of both
boredom and having been left alone for a day, and my grandfather
was getting forgetful by then so he left his cases for his old
gear unlocked. Took me a while to actually get the thing working
for me cause of how much bigger it was than me, and once I got a
shot off I realized it wasn't the best idea to do such a thing
while indoors. Kid me was kind of dumb sometimes. Anyway, I
broke a vase, a window, half of a glass door for a bookcase,
impaled several of the books it was meant to protect and a
collectable Wonderbolts doll. Sorry, 'action figure'. It was a
rag doll despite whatever my grandfather tried to get us to
believe and none of us were ever fooled. In the midst of all the
chaos though, and after I made several more shots because, hey,
I was gonna get in trouble at this point anyway so why not, I
actually was able to get the darn thing under control and fire
an arrow off proper. Was a bullseye, of course, and my cutie
mark appeared shortly after. Didn't notice it till hours later
however as my parents returned home just when it happened and
promptly flipped out. When tempers cooled we noticed and
naturally threw a parade later that day." He added that last
part with a smirk, clearly joking as he was able to relax more
after telling the story of his cutie mark and letting the
earlier talk get pushed further back in his mind.
"This reminds me of something else I've been wondering about
you," he went on, pausing for another sip before continuing,
"well, you and your brother really. Your cutie marks, I've been
trying to figure them out. I don't believe you've ever mentioned
what your special talents are, or at least I know I haven't ever
had a discussion with you over it yet. Granny Smith has one
that's easy to guess while Apple Bloom hasn't gotten hers yet,
so you two have been making me wonder lately. Three apples and
half an Apple. Originally I figured your talent was in Apple
bucking given how good you are at it, and that the three apples
were supposed to be falling to represent that, but I'm just
guessing here. Was I close? I have no clue when it comes to your
brother though."
#Post#: 2002--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: April 4, 2014, 8:04 am
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Applejack just sighed quietly and gave Darrus an almost scolding
look as he tried brushing off her statement that she'd like
hearing his story, only to then raise her mug up to her lips as
he continued. She idly sipped as she listened to him explain the
fact that he and everypony else was expecting his special talent
to be what it was, followed by him talking about the day he'd
earned his cutie mark. A brow was raised at him as she continued
sipping from her drink, the various accounts of destruction and
vandalism making her wonder how all of that tied into him
earning his cutie mark. She only stared at him blankly when he
finished recounting it, then slowly shook her head after. That
sounded like a silly story--but, for some reason, she believed
it.
She went back to sipping from her glass as he began asking about
her own cutie mark, however, and leaned back in her seat as he
tried to piece some of it together. She smirked a little bit at
his conclusion before shrugging slightly. "It has a bit ta do
with it. It's more just... apples in general. Ah just got a
natural affinity fer anythin' apple--bakin', buckin', growin',
sellin', ciderin', you name it. Just life on the apple farm,
really. Ah'll never ferget the moment Ah figgered it out,
either... When Ah was a lil' filly, Ah'd thought that life on
the farm wasn't fer me. Ah thought Ah wanted somethin' more, so
Ah went ta go visit mah relatives over in Manehattan--the
Oranges. Mom's side o' the family. It was really hard ta fit in
over there, what with them bein' all proper an' fancy an'
stuff... An' Ah just got more an' more homesick fer the farm.
Then, there was this one day Ah was lookin' out mah window when
Ah saw a rainbow over Ponyville, an' Ah knew that was where Ah
belonged. Back home, at the farm, with mah family. Was when Ah
got back to the farm that Ah got mah cutie mark."
She took a final sip from her drink before grinning a little
playfully at Darrus. "Reckon that's the first time Ah've heard
anypony gettin' their cutie mark by destroyin' things
though--save fer a demolitions pony o' course. How's that talent
o' yers helped you over the years, anyway? Whaddya do with it?
Or... What would ya like ta do with it?"
#Post#: 2022--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: April 5, 2014, 11:34 am
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A special talent just for the fruit and anything to do with it.
Huh. Well, Darrus had seen other ponies with fruits and
vegetables as their cutie marks, especially here in a rural
little town like Ponyville, so he guessed that was normal for
farmers and such. What was the mark on that one pony he'd helped
out once... a hay bale? Was a while ago... Hmm... Anyway, that
at least explained why AJ's baking was so good. Darrus had
figured shed just had plenty of ingredients to work and practice
with, but if her talent was anything apple then it seemed to
make sense shed be able to make a pretty good pie as well. How
far does that extend though? Darrus wondered as he took another
sip of his drink. Could she, like, carve a face into an apple?
It's still Apple related... kinda... and if her talent also
involved selling apples then who knows? Maybe he'd come across
her when she was just relaxing and bored one day carving out a
small figure from am Apple using her teeth, going so fast that
it will all he a blur with bits of apple going this way and
that? Heh, Darrus would pay to see somepony manage that.
"A rainbow bringing you home," Darrus said, thinking about how
bright of a rainbow it must have been to have been seen from an
entirely different city a full train ride away, "if I was good
with putting words together to sound all pretty, I'd probably be
able to see some kind of poem or song in that." Definitely
solidified her reasoning behind not wanting to travel if the
farm itself gave her her cutie mark. "... A rainbow over
Ponyville..." Hmm... For some reason that was starting to sound
oddly familiar... At the comment over his less than gentle
method of discovering his own special talent, Darrus chuckled.
"Well, some ponies need to wreck a room or two before figuring
out if their good at it. I think your sister and her friends
could vouch for that one, but in the end it wasn't so much the
damage I was doing to the stuff around me as it was that one
shot I managed to seduce out of the bow that actually hit what I
was aiming at that made things click.
"As for what its done for me... I more just use it for fun I
guess. I join the occasional competition when I need the prize
money and am lucky enough to be in town while its being held,
but mostly I just play around with..." That thing he wasn't
keeping on himself because he was sure shed get angry about
it... "Well... anything really. I can peg something with a rock
if I felt like it. You've seen me killing time out in the
orchard by kicking small rocks at the trees or setting up the
bad apples as targets. As for what I'm hoping to do with it... I
dunno really... I'm kind of okay with what I've been using it
for so far... Not many things a talent in accuracy can be used
for really...
"Do you..." He began to ask, his memory not being as cooperative
with him at the moment as he would like, "happen to remember
about when you saw that rainbow over Ponyville? Cause I might be
thinking of something else, but I keep feeling like I should be
remembering something... Any details about it you can recall at
least?"
#Post#: 2067--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: April 7, 2014, 8:52 am
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Applejack nodded once as Darrus mentioned his talent mostly
being used for fun, her hooves crossing over her chest as she
leaned back in her seat, her drink mostly finished. Made sense
he tried using it for competitions where he could
compete--though it only made her wonder if there was some sort
of special 'class' for ponies whose talents revolved around
accuracy, as it seemed like it might have been a little unfair
otherwise... After he mentioned there not being many things that
a talent for accuracy could really be used for, she paused for a
moment to try and think on it, but managed to come up with very
little before he asked about the rainbow that brought her back
home. She raised a brow at him as he mentioned feeling like
there should be something he remembered before responding to
him. "Well, Ah didn't find out 'til recently, but... That
rainbow wasn't actually a rainbow.
"See, Ah got this friend--Rainbow Dash--who's one o' the fastest
fliers in Equestria. If she gets enough speed she kin do
somethin' she calls the... 'Sonic Rainboom'," Applejack said
with a slight roll of her eyes. "Kinda cheesy if ya ask me, but
it's her move so it's her call. Anyway, when she manages to do
that there's this... explosion o' light, followed by a rainbow
ring that kinda... spreads out, Ah guess," she said,
accompanying the words by spreading her hooves out as if trying
to mime an expanding circle. "Any o' that help?"
#Post#: 2095--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: April 8, 2014, 10:19 am
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"Hmm..." Darrus hummed in thought, slowly reaching for and
lifting up his mug as he tried to use the new information to
help his brain figure things out, "... Sonic Rainboom..." He
echoed as he took a sip of his drink, his dwindling supply going
unnoticed as he was too distracted to pay attention to it. "...
I think I've heard of that... She does that a bunch now, right?
I've heard ponies talk about visiting Canterlot and seeing stuff
like that sometimes, though I don't think I've ever seen it for
myself... That or I don't know it when o see it, though it
sounds pretty easy to identify from what you're describing...
"Oh!" He nearly exclaimed as his memory clicked, him grinning a
bit as he mighty thinker a hoof against the table to punctuate
his success in pulling up the relevant memories, though they
were a little blurry given how long it had been since he'd last
thought on them, "I think I did see that once actually! Sort of.
Well, kinda. Back when I was a kid. Memory is a bit fuzzy
though... I think I was hanging around in some part of
Cloudsdale that I can barely remember after having ditched
school during my very short lived 'I know everything already and
don't need no system' phase. Or at least I think I ditched
school... Or maybe it was just after school? Anyway, I was
rumagging through some junk out of boredom and just kicking
stuff around when I heard... something go off somewhere else in
the city. I looked around all confused over what was going on,
understandable, when a wave of color rush by. I didn't get to
see too much of it from where I was, and at the time I wasn't
the best of flyers so it took some effort to get somewhere where
I could check everything out, but I'm starting to think that may
have been the same thing you saw. Unless there were other
rainbooms back then I don't know about? I dunno. Was pretty cool
though, from what little I got to witness. I of course didn't
have a big meaningful story to go along with my account
though... Just some regular colt wasting time somewhere... Oh
well." He finished with a small sigh, another sip from his mug
finally letting him know that it was just about dry, the
stallion raising an eyebrow at the mug as if that would cause it
to fill itself back up.
#Post#: 2103--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: April 8, 2014, 6:26 pm
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Reaching for what little was left in her mug, Applejack picked
it up and tipped back the rest of it before sliding the mug a
little ways away from her and returning to how she was sitting
before with her hooves crossed over her chest. She stared
quietly across the table at him as he explained the time he
might have seen something like that, a slight nod given from her
after he mentioned he lived in Cloudsdale. When he finished
recounting the story she reached out and traced one of the knots
in the grain of the table as she responded. "Naw, far as Ah know
there's only one pony who kin do the rainboom, an' that's RD.
An' if yer sayin' ya lived in Cloudsdale, then yeah--it's perty
likely that's the same thing ya saw." She then fell silent for a
few moments as she continued to trace the knot on the table
before glancing back up to Darrus. "So.. uh... What now? You
don't wanna talk about yer past, an' Ah cain't think o' much
else ta say, so... Time ta head back?"
#Post#: 2119--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: April 9, 2014, 4:37 pm
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Sonic Rainboom. Hm. So that's what it was called. Darrus had
never put the pieces together in figuring out what that thing
had been when he was a kid while taking into account the stories
he'd been hearing about similar occurrences around the country,
so now he felt himself briefly fall back into thought as his
memories started to clear up better since he had an actual name
to give it. Still a bit blurry, but he could remember all those
colors a bit more vibrantly now... So distracted was he that he
hadn't noticed how AJ had fallen silent for a few moments, his
eventual snapping out of it being brought on by her speaking up
once more.
She wasn't looking at him beyond a glance now... And she
specifically mentioned how he didn't want to talk about his
past... Oh boy... Way to go Darrus, he scolded himself as he
went ahead and planned a second facehoof for himself once the
first he already owed was delivered. He... Well... Uh... His
wings felt a hit twitchy again, the stallion lagging in giving a
response for AJ's question...
With a small sigh, Darrus assumed he'd made a pretty big boo boo
here but... Maybe... "Are you a bettin mare, Applejack?" He
asked, brain deciding to take a back seat in his opinion as he
went off of a sudden idea, "cause I think I got something fun we
could do. Got a game I like to play. Interested?"
#Post#: 2180--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: April 15, 2014, 6:20 am
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Applejack glanced back to Darrus after he asked if she was a
betting mare, earning a slight raise of one of her brows in
question. She hadn't quite expected to be asked something like
that by him, especially not out of the blue at a time like this.
A game and a bet... Usually something Applejack could get
behind, but she was still vastly unfamiliar with Darrus in
general, so... "Ah'd whether Ah'm a bettin' mare depends on the
terms o' this bet. An' what game is this you got in mind,
anyway?"
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