DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Roleplaying is Magic
HTML https://rpismagic.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Sweet Apple Acres
*****************************************************
#Post#: 3251--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: August 29, 2014, 7:18 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
AJ's tease was enough to stir Darrus's competitive spirit as he
grinned and managed to get a small boost in speed to catch up.
When faced with the group in their way, Darrus again felt the
instinct to simply fly over them but was forced to suppress the
urge with a brief roll of his eyes and small "uuugh" as he stuck
to the decided rules. Instead following AJ's lead, the pegasus
was up and over the crates immediately after she was, him being
darn near right next to her when she called out the upcoming
turn.
Darrus, managing to keep himself equal in terms of speed with AJ
for the time being, flashed her a cocky grin as they neared the
turn, his more agile pegasus body allowing him to make it more
sharply than AJ and allowing him to snatch away the lead for
himself as he pulled a bit ahead.
"Oh nooooo!" he called back to the mare in a playfully mocking
tone in reference to her having lost her lead on him, "Like
lightning! I warned ya! Call it off now and I'll show mercy!" he
offered before looking back in front of him and noticing a mess
in the road. Apparently, some ponies had been busy trimming a
number of trees along the main road, and they must have friggin
taken their time in having gotten around to this as not only
were they only now finishing up by picking up their mess at this
late hour, but the size of the branches they cut down weren't no
twigs. Large and generally scattered all over the road, the
branches in the path of the racing ponies demanded some hoofwork
and agility to get past if they didn't want to slow down, and
since Darrus had finally taken the lead slowing down was the
last thing on his mind.
He swerved past the first couple, speeding past one of the
ponies working to gather everything up and get it out of the way
so closely that he nearly knocked him over. After that he hopped
over a particularly large branch that was half as tall as he was
then was forced to slow down a bit to deftly step through a mess
of smaller sticks to avoid stepping and possibly slipping on one
or getting his hoof caught and face planting. Clear of the
hazards he went back into his top speed, ignoring the shouts
from the work ponies behind him as he went.
#Post#: 3253--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: August 30, 2014, 8:49 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Applejack grumbled quietly to herself when Darrus pulled ahead
when he took the corner faster than she did. It was almost a
little disheartening to see him ahead of her, but she knew she
could get that distance back and then some when they hit a
straight road with no obstacles. Like the one leading to her
farm, and the actual farm itself. Just had to keep the distance
close until then. Which shouldn't be too hard... At least,
that's what she thought, until she saw what was ahead: the large
branches littering the road. There was no real way around them,
and taking any of the alleys nearby would just put her further
behind, so she was stuck having to go straight through it.
She wasn't of the mind to wind around all the debris, however.
She intended to go straight through it, using the larger
branches as stepping stones. When she reached the first branch,
she leapt onto it and, using what momentum she could, continued
leaping from what she could to avoid any smaller things between
them. When she couldn't leap from the branches she simply ran
forward, making up for what little speed she'd lost from her
leaps. It seemed to help her quite a bit as, when she reached
the end of it, she was back to being even with Darrus again, and
staring down a straight stretch of road. "C'mon Mr. Lightnin'!"
AJ called challengingly to Darrus. "Don't let the slow lil'
earth pony teach you the meanin' o' speed! Ain't got much time
left before ya lose!"
Laughing at her words, Applejack lowered her head again and
forced herself to push her body as far as it could go once more,
her body beginning to glisten a bit from the sweat that began to
cover her coat. The road from here continued straight on for a
bit longer before beginning to curve gradually to the right. It
wasn't too long after this that the trees of Applejack's orchard
could be seen, and moments after this, AJ said, "Over the
fence!" as she did just that, easily clearing the fence and
landing unhindered, speed not taking a hit in the slightest.
#Post#: 3257--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: August 30, 2014, 10:20 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Darrus was in trouble, he knew it once AJ was next to him again
as, unless there was another sharp turn or something else that
could somehow be turned to his advantage, he wasn't sure if he'd
be able t pull ahead of her again. Even AJ's challenge wasn't
enough to assist at this point, as while his spirit was ready to
keep going and stay even with the mare, his legs seemed to have
their own opinion on the matter. They had well reached Darrus's
usual sprinting distance for being on the ground with no wing
assistance, Darrus having actually done quite well in keeping
even up to this point, but it was time his legs started keeping
him from hurting himself.
AJ began to pull ahead much to Darrus's dismay, him already
falling a bit behind when they reached the fence. He could still
win this though! Or so he told himself due to his never give up
attitude, his chances actually becoming pretty slim at this
point and only made slimmer when he attempted to get over the
fence.
Take a pony that has been flying for most of his life, wings
assisting in almost everything he did from a very young age. Now
take that same pony, and have him try to jump something that was
almost if not just as tall as he was without the assistance of a
flap from those same wings.
It was less graceful than one would think coming from a pegasus.
He only jumped high enough to have his hooves get caught on the
fence and force him to fall forward and threaten to face plant
into a big muddy puddle on the other side. Instincts kicked in
when he toppled over, his wings snapping out to prevent his
landing from being too hard as he pulled up enough to turn his
inevitable face plant into him smacking into the puddle chest
first instead, the mud splashing all over him and his cloak as
he was forced to spend a second laying in the puddle with the
wind having almost been knocked out of him.
Grumbling as AJ was given plenty of time to solidify her lead,
Darrus forced himself back to his hooves after a second or two
with him pushing off his now very dirty hood that had fallen
over his head and then briefly wondered if he'd technically been
disqualified already after having his wings save him but
shrugging it off and breaking back into a now rather tired
sprint, Darrus weaving around several apple trees as he ran
through the edge of the orchard and towards the barn.
The race wasn't over till they reached the barn, so he still had
a chance...! Ugh...
#Post#: 3271--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: August 31, 2014, 7:26 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Probably much to Darrus' pride's relief, Applejack hadn't looked
back when Darrus near-faceplanted, but instead kept her focus
held straight ahead and the barn that could already be seen a
ways down the orchard. Still nowhere near winded, Applejack kept
her full-speed sprint going, only weaving around trees when need
be. It wasn't too long after this that Applejack reached the
barn, to which she ran right up to it and tagged it with her
front two hooves, practically colliding with the barn's side.
She paused like that, standing on her back two hooves and
panting from the exertion, before lowering herself back to all
fours and looking over to Darrus, wide grin on her face.
"Hoo boy... Ah haven't moved like that in a while. That felt
good~. Was a good race, too," she said, stepping over to him to
pat his shoulder with her hoof. "So now we're tied, one fer one.
Just one more competition an' we kin call it a day. Ya got any
ideas?"
#Post#: 3274--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: August 31, 2014, 10:59 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Well, at least she hadn't seemed to notice his splash into the
mud, Darrus slowing his run down to more of a jog as he reached
the barn himself since AJ had clearly won and he no longer
needed to rush as well as needed to let his legs have some
semblance of a break. Nearing the mare, he breathed heavily as
he sat down, him swallowing to try and help his dry throat
before raising a hoof up to his chest with some exaggeration.
"Clearly, my wings being stuck to my sides caused me to suffer
greater wind drag than you," he claimed between gasps and with a
smile as she pat his shoulder, obviously joking as he made up a
bogus excuse for why she was able to beat him and wiped some mud
from his brow, "you by nature were born with a sleeker design
better suited for ground travel, and clearly began with an
unfair advantage. But I still must congratulate you as it is not
every day somepony proves themselves faster than me."
One more competition. Darrus hummed as he looked at his
surroundings for inspiration.
"What if..." he began, scratching his chin thoughtfully as he
tried to brainstorm ideas, "We both chopped wood? Maybe we could
each have our own pile of logs and whoever finishes first wins.
Or..." Darrus continued still looking around and spotting a
basket that normally served to carry apples, "we could juggle
some apples, I do believe apples are plentiful in this neck of
Equestria so there should be no shortage of em to use. Whoever
can manage the highest number is declared winner. Course we
could balance a bucket of water on our heads and see who could
stand on a narrow beam for longer without either falling or
spilling. Or we could just go with a simple hoof wrastlin'
match." he offered, Darrus then pausing to hear either AJ's
opinion or her own ideas for what they could do.
#Post#: 3289--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: September 1, 2014, 8:31 am
---------------------------------------------------------
"Sleeker design, huh? Real flatterin'," AJ teased as she sat on
the ground a moment to catch her breath, ears perked soon after
as Darrus started listing ideas for stuff to do. Couldn't really
chop wood like that since she only had the one axe... Nor could
she juggle apples. That was one of the few things she couldn't
do with apples, as it always seemed a little pointless to her.
His third suggestion was a little better and she supposed it
would do if nothing else was thought up. Then, at the suggestion
of hoof wrestling, she grinned and nodded in approval as she
pushed herself back onto her hooves. "A good ol' fashioned hoof
wrastle sounds perty good, actually. An' we don't even hafta go
that far ta do it."
As she said that, she walked to the front of the barn and
stepped inside, before moving one of the crates inside to an
area where the both of them could sit on opposite sides of it.
After doing so, she plopped down on one side and set her elbow
on the crate's surface, hoof waiting in the air for Darrus to do
the same.
#Post#: 3292--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: September 1, 2014, 11:26 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Hoof wrestlin, huh? Kinda made sense in the end that it would be
a test of strength to decide the competition. They'd already
tested accuracy which could have been taken as a show of
dexterity, then moved on to speed, so why not end it on
strength? Darrus figured he could hold his own. He knew full
well that AJ was a strong mare, I mean she bucked trees and did
all kinds of farm work for a living, but just so long as they
weren't wrestling with their back hooves - Darrus recognizing
that a joke could have been made here had he not been too winded
from his sprint to think of one - he was as confident as always.
He followed the mare inside, watching as she set up their little
improv table for their test of strength in hoof wrastle before
sitting down on the opposite side of the crate and putting his
elbow up onto its surface, him wrapping his hoof around her's
firmly as they readied to start.
"On three," he said, looking her in the eye with playful
determination, "One... two... three!" on the call of three
Darrus, as was normal for him, tried to act both first and
quickly, right away putting a great deal of his strength into
trying to either end the match right away with a quick slam or
at least push AJ's hoof lower to the point where it would be
easier for him to hold out in the ensuing struggle.
#Post#: 3305--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: September 2, 2014, 6:34 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Grinning a little bit, Applejack met Darrus' playful gaze with
one of her own, hoof tightening around his as he began to count
down. When the count reached three, she immediately put her own
show of strength into the match and though she was able to keep
their hooves from moving too much, his speed won out and her
hoof moved a little bit to his side of the crate. Still, she
fought on to try and move his hoof to her side of the crate,
trying to avoid all impulse to grip the side of the crate for
extra leverage.
#Post#: 3308--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Darrus Date: September 2, 2014, 11:10 am
---------------------------------------------------------
A little bit of a lead was better than none as Darrus put his
effort into holding AJ's hoof where it was, muscles in his leg
bulging from the strain as he kept his grip firm and grit his
teeth, a few small beads of sweat beginning to form on his brow
from all the work he'd been putting his body through that night.
Darrus's plan now was to keep AJ's hoof there for as long as he
could, using his strength more to hold things even in this
advantageous position instead of gain more ground and force AJ
to hopefully expend extra energy in trying to make up for what
she'd lost before trying to go further. Whether several seconds
passed with them at a stalemate or AJ managed to return their
hooves to their starting position, Darrus would again try to act
by giving another burst of his energy in an attempt to gain a
greater foothold in this competition, the stallion either
pushing or pressing down on the mare's hoof with a grunt
wherever it was at the time and leaning his head along with it
as if that would somehow help. His wings involuntarily spread
out from his torso to serve no purpose during the exercise, one
extending a bit outwards parallel the side of the crate
promising victory as if reaching while the other remained almost
folded to his side though looser.
#Post#: 3318--------------------------------------------------
Re: Derivation
By: Applejack Date: September 3, 2014, 9:06 am
---------------------------------------------------------
AJ's own muscles bulged as she fought to keep the odds even,
eyes narrowed in focus, staring daggers at the intertwined
hooves while her jaw clenched in strain. Every time Darrus would
put those bursts of energy into the competition, Applejack would
focus on trying to keep their hooves from moving all that much
before using her natural strength to inch them back the other
way, hoping to eventually win by wearing him out by him doing
those bursts of energy too much. She likely would have succeeded
too, were it not for the fact that a sudden pain shot through
her arm, causing her to grimace as her hoof was easily pinned to
her side of the crate. Her other hoof moved to her shoulder to
gently massage the cramp that had caused her to lose, her nose
wrinkled in disappointment. "Guess that's what Ah get fer not
stretchin'," she muttered, hoof still massaging her shoulder.
"A'ight, you win. What'm Ah gonna hafta do?"
*****************************************************
DIR Previous Page
DIR Next Page