Astalakio

Lucky I'm not livin in the USA, lucky for you it's ok for your plan but I think posting pony things and being in a facebook Brony AD (afther dark topic where we post matured stuff like shipping pics and R34 pics) woldn't help me to get a job as a social worker.

Err, yeah, I wouldn't post stuff like that. I don't even do requests for mature pictures because I'll probably want to do kids animation some day and I don't want to put employers off with stuff like that.

Well I personally post pony stuff on my FB all the time... but the only job I wanna get is in animation anyway, so it's all fine and good for me. Any future employers would probably encourage it

Let us know what you decide to do!

(Posted this on my deviantART journal, figured it works here for this discussion too)

"...Now, my initial reaction, of course this sucks. It sucks bad. It feels like someone (whether it's Hasbro or whoever) has basically burned the bridge that's been built between us, the fans, and the animators, our heroes, one that both sides took great care in building. I already signed the petition for a 'retraction' so we can have the old episode back (if you want to do the same, see [link]).

But there is one fact that makes me okay with this whole mess. Kreoss, an animator from TopDraw, who is also here on deviantART, posted his own blog entry on the matter here: [link] and it includes the very important information that:

"On the issue on Derpy whether she'll have the same Derp face expression and stuff. As an animator of the show, rest assured, she'll be fine."

So we know that, while Derpy was effectively pulled from The Last Roundup, she'll still appear in the background in future scenes, and she'll still be Derpy as we know and love her.

So really, nothing has changed. Yes, that one moment in history that fully cemented and confirmed the relationship between the animators and the fans is gone (and actually, in the age of the internet, even that is far from true), but at least WE know that she's officially Derpy, and THEY know that she's officially Derpy, and WE know that THEY know that she's officially Derpy. They can take away that one appearance, but now it's obvious to everyone who exactly she is.

So with that little nugget of reassuring information tucked away in the backs of our minds, everything will go back to how it was before. We'll still spot Derpy in the backgrounds, celebrate her appearances and produce fan art and fiction and whatever else. Sure, she won't be named again, she probably won't have any more lines in the future, but she will still be Derpy for both us and the creators.

She'll just go back to being our Derpy Little Secret, and maybe it's even best that way. The less she's blatantly she's portrayed, the less trolls and other people have to complain about.

Heh. Derpy Little Secret. That was pretty clever for me.

"I'll keep you my Derpy Little Secret… doo-dee-doo-dee-doo-daa-daaa…."

*walks off into the sunset singing about Derpy*"

It was curious that Winter Iris had chosen to pick on the Professor as her point of interest in the story. He had known the old fellow for so long that, in his depiction of how he was, Betterbones didn't even consider that other ponies might find his attitude a little off.

"Oh, I understood him perfectly." He replied to her point, "And he understood me. It's why, for so many years, he was the only mentor I could work with, and I was the only intern he would work with. Yes, he would throw insults and scathing remarks at me and I would laugh at him and mutter things about him when I thought he wasn't listening, and the two of us were a perfect team for many years..." His words trailed off again, and it was almost visible that one thought or another interrupted his train of thought and caused his sentence to come to an end. When he snapped out of it, he shook his head (which, thankfully, was now mostly dry) and took another sip of tea.

"This hermit, with his dragon, had practically invaded the streets of Stalliongrad..." He continued, as Winter prompted him to go on, "At first the officials demanded that he leave at once, but it became very clear, very quickly, that neither the pony or his dragon was going to leave without getting what they wanted...

***

"Treatment, of course." Van Hoofclip explained.

"For the dragon..." The intern nodded, understanding now where the story was heading, able to fill in the rest of the gaps leading up to this moment, "But why would there be a doctor in Stalliongrad who knows how to treat a sick dragon?"

"Why indeed. That's why the doctors and veterinarians in the city put out a call for assistance this afternoon, asking for the best medical practitioners in every available field to come galloping off to that blasted freezing city to go and save their flanks from certain destruction!"

Betterbones noted the scorn in his tone, like the older stallion was irritated by all this, but he knew him well enough at this point to see that he was really excited by this quickly unfolding adventure before them.

"So unless we can cure this dragon of whatever ails it, this hermit is planning to let the creature go on a rampage across the city."

"That's pretty much the sum of it, yes." Van Hoofclip grumbled, and then he folded his arms and leaned back into the corner of the carriage in an expression that meant that the briefing was over, and that any further questions would be met with no reply. So although Betterbones wanted more than anything to ask about the details, the symptoms, the other doctors that they would meet, he instead had to content himself with staring out the window of the carriage with wide, excited eyes, and daydreaming about what might await them in the great city of Stalliongrad.

Cold. Cold and ice and snow, as it happened, were awaiting them. The only thing less bearable than the temperature that gave Betterbones a shock to the system when he finally stepped out of the carriage was the fact that he knew Van Hoofclip wouldn't stop moaning about it until they were miles away once again.

"Snow..." The older pony mumbled as he joined his assistant, "The most ludicrous of all forms of precipitation..."

The idea that the professor had taken the time to sit down and make an ordered list of how ludicrous each form of precipitation was was enough to bring a smile to Betterbones' face, at least.

"When you're done grinning like a moron, we'll go on inside."

"Yes sir, lead the way."

Once inside the city's biggest hospital, the two medical ponies were met by a congregation of other practitioners, all of whom were chatting and muttering to one another, gathered in little clusters of three and four about the room, which was a round white space with a tall ceiling. One of the chatting ponies, who had a long beard and glasses, saw Van Hoofclip and Betterbones when they entered, and immediately broke off his conversation to come and greet them.

"Van Hoofclip, my old friend!" The ancient looking stallion cried joyously, "You're late you know. Everypony else has already arrived!"

"I came here from Canterlot, Tomes, what do you want from me? Now, what is this, a social gathering? Where is this supposed dragon, hm?!"

The pony named Tomes chuckled at the grumpy professor, and after pointing the way to an adjoining room, turned his attention to Betterbones.

"And you must be the plucky young assistant I've heard so much about!" He addressed him cheerily, nudging his spectacles up his snout where they began to slip down, "My name is Dusty Tomes, it's a pleasure to meet you at last."

"You've... heard of me? You mean the professor told you about me?" Betterbones enquired, suspicious about this idea in itself.

"Well..." Tomes hesitated, "He doesn't talk about anypony other than his patients, really, so the fact that he even mentioned that he was bringing an intern along counts as talking all about you, in his terms." He grinned helpfully.

"In his terms." Betterbones echoed fondly, deciding that he liked Dusty Tomes. He recognised in him a kindred spirit who had been forced to deal in some way or other with Van Hooflcip for a long period of time. Considering that fact, he seemed surprisingly well adjusted.

"Well then," Betterbones said, gathering himself and putting on the most professional, impressive face he could muster, "Let's see this supposed dragon of yours!"

"Yes yes," Tomes chuckled again, exactly as he had at Van Hooflcip, "Right this way, Junior."

He then led Betterbones to a small door, which he opened to allow him access. Betterbones smoothed his mane back with his hooves, pushed his chin into the air and walked through.

Before he even registered the kind of room he found himself in, a roaring burst of yellow fire was headed straight at him, and, with a gasp that came out like a squeak, he threw himself to the ground as the scorching heat that would have burned him to a crisp bounced instead off the stone wall behind him...

***

"It even singed my poor mane a little..." The doctor pouted at the recollection, "Do you know how unsympathetic the world's best medical doctors are about other ponies' manes? Very, that's how. That was the first thing I learned in Stalliongrad, I think. Unless something's broken or bruised, they don't want to know!"

He sipped his tea again. It was important to make time for tea-sipping, otherwise he knew he would get absorbed in the telling of his own story and forget to drink, and nopony liked cold tea. Nopony that he had met, anyway.

Hrm, this means ponies will be released at 9:00 PM where I am... I hope somepony's quick enough to get a 1080p version up on Youtube for us before I go to sleep :\ Aw, who am I kidding? Sleep time will be pushed back to no limits for the sake of poni >.<

Agreed with both above. I don't see it happening, and don't particularly want it to *shrug*

For me it would be Twilight.

Getting something would be a trick.

A book would be an easy gift, but you'd run the risk of getting her one she already has.

Especially considering she has, you know, a library.

I don't really know - I avoid anything with 'sad' as a tag or anything grimdark, but from the few things I have picked up, all of the ponies seem to get a little of that kind of thing. I don't know why they pick on Rainbow, if they do.

Personally I wish I could sap all the negative stuff like that out of the community. I know it's an extreme thing to say, but I really don't see how it benefits anypony

The doctor paused pointedly in the drying of his mane to look at Winter Iris, apparently deciding whether or not to tell her the story as she desired. It really was the least he could do in exchange for the warmth and comfort she had so graciously supplied him with.

"Well," He began, "I don't know how many years ago it was now... but I can remember where it all started, like it was yesterday. I was at the hospital here in Canterlot where I was doing my internship, and it was stormy, that day, I remember - much like today, in fact. Anyway, while the rain was pouring down the windows and the fireplace in the study room was only just flickering out enough light to keep the shivers at bay, I was reading up on one of my favourite medical journals. I had just gotten to the 'Particularly Peculiar Spells of the Month' section when my mentor, Professor Van Hoofclip, burst into the room...

***

"Grab your coat, Betterbones. We're leaving." The old stallion barked as he stole into the room, the open door behind him letting in a vicious breeze that clipped at Betterbones' ears and made him shudder and pull the blanket that he had stolen from a vacant bed tighter around his shoulders.

"I don't have a coat..." Betterbones reminded him.

"Well then get my coat!" The professor retorted loudly. He never seemed to have any sense of volume control, "We're going to Stalliongrad."

"Stalliongrad?" Betterbones echoed, "Why? Now? What's in Stalliongrad?"

"You ask too many questions!"

"I'm an intern!"

"And why am I still not wearing my coat?!"

The younger stallion grumbled, crossed the room and half-heartedly helped the professor into his lab coat. He could easily do it himself, he was just so darned lazy...

"Follow!" The professor commanded grandly, and with that he whisked himself out of the room and slammed the door. Betterbones spared a moment to look forlornly back at the fireplace, before sinking his head dejectedly and following his mentor out into the rain.

"A dragon?!"

"That's what I said, wasn't it? A fully grown specimen, too, I believe. Why must you echo everything I say?"

Betterbones stared at his mentor incredulously, though it was difficult enough to keep his eyes on one spot as the carriage they were in was bouncing and rocking about so violently. He could barely hear what Van Hoofclip was saying over the smattering of the rain on the thin roof just above their heads.

"But... what in Equestria is a fully-grown dragon doing in the middle of Stalliongrad?!" The intern queried, ignoring the pained look that passed over his teacher's face at being asked yet another question.

"There's an old hermit who lives in the wilderness beyond Stalliongrad. Nobody ever saw him-"

"Well, he's a hermit..."

"Don't be smart. Do you want me to explain, or not?!"

"Sorry, Professor. Go on."

"Nobody ever saw him," Van Hoofclip continued, glaring at his student intently, "But there were rumours that he collected strange creatures of all kinds. All shapes and sizes and species and breeds, the more dangerous, the better. Well, Celestia knows how, but some day of late he's managed to get his hooves on a fully-grown dragon."

"I didn't think dragons could be domesticated." Betterbones frowned.

"They can't." The professor replied shortly, "But this hermit seems to have found a way to control him. The problem is, this dragon is sick."

"A sick dragon..." Betterbones muttered, becoming more and more sure by the moment that this whole tale was a ridiculous joke being played on him. It wouldn't be the first time Van Hoofclip did something like this for his own amusement.

"This hermit is many things, as I gather, but he's no doctor. He had no idea what was wrong with his new pet, and so he did the logical thing: he brought it into Stalliongrad...

***

Betterbones paused for a moment, either for dramatic effect or to observe Winter Iris' reaction to his tale so far. He was also, in fact, leaving room for questions, but it was possible she wouldn't have any, in which case he would go on. Using his horn to levitate his tea cup, he brought it to his mouth and sipped from it as politely as he could, looking wisely contemplative (he believed) as he did so.

I agree with SirShadowdeath. If it was the kind of depiction of Derpy that would lead people - and more importantly, children - to think 'Oh, ha ha, mentally disabled people sure are funny!' then yes, it'd be more than reasonable to have a problem with it. The way she was predicted was just adorably clumsy, and that's all kids are going to see in the character too. As for the name Derpy, if that's what's causing the problem, someone from Hasbro only has to type it into Google to see that it means goofy and clutzy rather than anything else. Then again we're assuming that someone at Hasbro actually knows how to use Google...

Betterbones was taking a moment to enjoy the warmth of the fire while his gracious host went to fetch some tea, and then she disappeared again. Sitting in the still and quiet, the doctor closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the rain outside, barely audible even from here on the ground floor - the walls had probably been designed to keep such sounds out, but he could hear it. Rain always sounded so peaceful when one wasn't being drenched with it.

His ears twitched as he heard another sound. It was the sound of voices - Ms. Iris talking with Pennyfeathers again. They were across the room and their voices were hushed, but going from the occasional snatches of words and the tones being passed back and forth, he was quite certain that he was the subject of conversation. He hated to think that he was becoming in indirect source of angst for the pony who had been so kind to him. He felt the urge to just get up and leave to save her the hassle... but on the other hoof he was just starting to get warm, and he really didn't want to go back out in the rain.

He felt like a stray dog, and the sensation brought a vivid memory back to him about an incident that had ocured with his sister and parents and a similarly stray and wet canine when they were only children. He had thought he had forgotten this particular memory entirely, but now that it had sprung back into his mind, it was as clear as day. He couldn't help but smile as the long-past images of his sister and the puppy she had found began to fade into sight.

"I would love to hear anything about yourself that you're willing to share,"

The voice, soft though it was, startled him from his thoughts and he opened his eyes, realising that Winter Iris had returned again. He also noticed the folded blanket by his side. He hadn't even known when she put it there. It was amazing how little somepony so observant could notice when he was absorbed in a memory.

She asked him how he liked his tea, and he glanced over at the coffee table to see what the options were, doing a comic double-take when he saw the extensive array of tea-related things that had been brought over.

"I never knew there was more than one kind of sugar..." He muttered to himself, blinking at the little cups that had been lined up next to the teapot.

"Two sugars and no cream would be fantastic, if you don't mind," He replied eventually, wondering if his new upper-class friends thought less of ponies who didn't like cream in their tea, "I really don't mind which kind of sugar, though, just, erm, pick your favourite?"

He turned his attention to the blanket beside him. He didn't know any magic for getting oneself dry when wet (a spell like that would be almost completely useless in the medical industry, after all), but a dry towel would do wonders. His horn flared with a dim green light and the blanket unfolded, rose up into the air and then wrapped itself around him.

At this point Betterbones realised that the blanket had actually been pre-warmed for him, and although he wished to voice his gratitude about this fact, he instead made a singular noise of pleasure that sounded something like "Durrrrr...", and with drooping eyelids and a satisfied smile snuggled back into the blanket and wrapped it tightly around him. He decided he was not going to offer to leave so as not to cause trouble for Ms. Iris. He felt bad about it, but his willpower had just been sapped by the feel of warm fabric against his cold skin.

"Stalliongrad?" He responded then, eyeing a strand of his wet black hair that was dangling teasingly in front of his eyes, "It's an interesting story. Not one of my favourites, probably because I'm not the one who saves the day in it. If I recall correctly, and I do... it involved a hermit, a dragon, a threatening exaction, and an assembled team of Equestria's finest medical and veterinary practitioners. And me." He added, "Of course I am one of the finest medical practitioners now, but at the time, I was only a hip young medical intern. You should have seen my hair back then..." He chuckled, as he started the process of half-heartedly drying his mane with his blanket, which was difficult as he seemed determined to keep it fully wrapped around his body at the same time.

I don't tend to watch broadcasted TV, but I like to buy box sets of series and watch them at an episode every other night kind of thing.

At the moment, I'm working my way through:

House (Season 3)

Smallville (Season 6)

Scrubs (The entire series - I got it for Christmas. Just starting season 2 tonight)

Soul Eater (entire series rewatch)

Puela Magi Madoka Magica (an anime...)

Coupling (an old British sit-com written by Steven Moffat (AKA the Doctor Who and Sherlock Guy) which I'm rewatching for the third time)

I'm also watching How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory when they're on once a week.

And when Dexter, Sherlock and Doctor Who start again I'll be tuning into those too...

Yeah, I watch way too much TV. -_-

small, non-functioning wings would have been so cute though...

Scootaloo style?

The way Winter Iris' eyes widened a bit with shock after he had noted his deduction about her profession made Betterbones smile. It was always the way, whenever he showed off his nack for figuring ponies out with seemingly nothing to go on, they would usually give a little exclamation, or a questioning look. The reactions not only told him more about the ponies in question (and defined his opinion on them), but served as one of life's unique pleasures. Just for a moment, he felt completely in control of the situation, in control of everything in his life. Bringing himself back down to earth again was a much harder skill to learn than the making of the deductions themselves, but this skill he had practised over the years too. Modesty was a virtue.

Pleased to hear he was correct, though not at all surprised, he shrugged as they walked.

"Thank you," He said, "But it was hardly brilliant. It was obvious to me that you were an artist for two main reasons. Firstly, your cutie mark is a dead giveaway, being some manner of artistic composition in itself. Secondly, you can always tell the artists in a city, because when it rains like this, everypony rushes indoors, except for the artists. They dash to get outside. Going for a walk in the rain is such an artistic past time. It takes an appreciation for nature's beauty to enjoy the atmosphere that comes with the rain... everypony else simply sees it as water falling out of the sky. Which it is, of course."

He stopped and looked to the side, as if finished with his explanation, but then he continued, as if forced by some invisible compulsion to go on.

"I knew you were a performing artist of some kind because, quite simply, no other kind of artist has any reason to care so much about their appearance, and clearly you do. The way your mane is styled, for example, it's the height of fashion right now, I've seen two other mares with similar mane styles since I've been in the city. Don't worry," He added quickly, with a wink, "You wear it the best by far. Noticing this about your mane also tipped me off to another fact: that you're not new in Canterlot. You've been here for long enough to know what's in style and what isn't. You're also familiar enough with the local streets to go wandering about alone in the rain, which means you've been here before.

On the other hoof, I don't suspect that you were raised here in Canterlot, and that is for two reasons. Firstly, you are an earth pony, and an earth pony family thriving in Canterlot is a rarity in itself. Secondly, I don't know anypony with a pure Canterlot upbringing who would go out of their way to help out a random stranger in a rainstorm.

So you weren't raised in Canterlot, this much is obvious. You've travelled around a lot too, possibly as part of your career. This I can tell from your voice, your accent. At first I had trouble placing it, and then I realised it was because it's a mix. It's subtle, but you've picked up slight tinges of dialects from the places you've been. As for exact places... I'm thinking..." He squinted for a moment, as if still listening to her voice, or maybe focusing in on a memory stored in his brain, "Stalliongrad? So so far we know she's a travelling performing artist not originally from Canterlot.

Successful, though? Yes, modestly, I'd say. I didn't recognise your face, and even I would recognise the face of somepony like Saphire Shores. No offense. Then again, you've enjoyed some success, looking at your umbrella. This kind of accessory doesn't come cheap, I can tell by the craftsmanship. See how they've stitched the material together at the seam there?" He nodded toward the inside rim of the umbrella that hung over him, "They've gone over it twice for security. That's expensive work. The fact that you're well off, if there was any doubt, was certified just now by this..."

He joined his companion in glancing up at Amythist Towers, the magnificent building at which they had finally arrived.

"I think that's everything. Oh... blast..." He frowned a little, and looked to Winter Iris as they stepped inside, "I'm showing off again, aren't I? Sorry. I'm told that I shouldn't do that. It's a weakness with me."

After sharing an awkward moment with Mr. Pennyfeathers, who clearly did not appreciate Ms. Iris' unruly guest (Betterbones wondered how often his friend brought in strays off the street. He didn't expect it was that often, or they'd probably ask her to leave), Betterbones turned toward the roaring fireplace, trailing after his host. She offered to take him to her appartment, away from the scorning gaze of Pennyfeathers, but he shook his head immediately, careful not to flick water at her.

"Oh no, just here will be marvelous, I'm sure." He replied, and went to sit down. He didn't take a place on the fancy looking couch she had indicated toward though, preferring simply to plonk himself down on the rug in front of the fireplace. He didn't want to get the furniture wet after all. The last thing he desired was to incur the wrath of any prying pegasi.

"I really can't thank you enough for your hospitality, you know, I'm feeling better already." He smiled. It was true, the problems that only moments ago he was wailing and flailing over now seemed a little more trivial. The fact of the matter was that they probably were trivial. He did like to blow things out of proportion. It was another weakness.

"And to answer your earlier question, I'm a medical doctor." He chirped, "I wouldn't say it was 'crossing any lines'," he added, looking amused, and perhaps the tiniest bit smug, "Given how much I know about you. In fact I think I owe you a few tidbits of information just to even things out."

((OOC: Sorry for shoving all that into a passing moment, but it seemed like the best place to get it out in the open >.<))

I think... if he was a sea dragon... that he would have gills. Or webbed digits.

But land dragon, maybe. That sounds plausible. We really don't know a lot about how dragons work in Equestria, so it'd just be blind guessing from me really *shrug*

I don't think I've ever been in one. Maybe I stepped into one while on holiday, somewhere by the sea, when I was younger, but I didn't play anything and if I did I don't remember it. Sounds like fun though

I'm not comfortable in cars since an accident I was in a few years ago. I rarely ever talk during car journeys... it's kind of like a selective muteness, I think because I'm scared that I'd distract the driver and cause a crash.

I don't mind heights, but I don't like elevators. I like to think I can love my fellow man... but I simply don't feel the faith needed to put my life in a contraption he threw together with bits of wire and metal. No thank you!

First year of studying BA in Film and English. Yeah. It's okay.

Well my sister and I were somewhat alarmed throughout, since we didn't actually know cider was non-alcoholic overseas, so we had to assume that the whole of ponyville were alcoholics and Rainbow Dash was their queen. This clarifies things a bit

So, yeah, not a *great* episode, for me. I predicted pretty much the whole thing from the synopsis, it's a story that's been done a ton of times, so... not great. The song was nice as always, I liked that it once again had a focus on the whole of the mane six rather than just the one character it was 'about', and I, like everypony, loved Applejack's letter. But after what I considered to be a fair run of 4-star episodes, I'm afraid to see this only makes up to a combo-breaking 3-star episode for me

I'm gunna go ahead and stick to my well-thought out tactic, consisting of my best guess followed by a hearty shrug.

*shrug*

A cupcake inside a cupcake inside a cupcake inside a cupcake inside a cupcake inside a cupcake inside a cupcake...

A troll cupcake.

Wow, this is a great game. Weirdly, those actually look like they'd be interesting albums to listen to. It's crazy how easy it is to make a deep-looking album cover.

Anyway, here's mine:

'The Stars We Are' was apparently the name of an album by someone, ironically.

Here's Sweetie Belle! I need to record some new clips of her. However, it's kinda hard to do her voice because I'm not... a little girl like the original VA. I also think Sweetie Belle's voice may be different in Season 2 than Season 1. My impressions are based on Season 1.

Hey there! I'm a voice actress, looking to get into some fan pony projects. (Or other voice acting projects.) Send me a message if you like my impression.

It's from YouTube. I made a second Sweetie Belle recording and used some of the same info for the second video.

I wanna hear your impressions, Tales! Linky?

Her charity had been enough of a surprise when she had simply offered for him to trail along beside her in an attempt to keep out of the rain, but now the mysterious mare was actually seeking 'warmth and dryness' for him? Even for somepony who wasn't brought up with the snobbish attitudes of the Canterlot elite, going out of her way to make sure he could settle somewhere out of the rain was a rare and unexpected act of kindness.

As they began off at a trot, Betterbones couldn't help but look at his companion, trying to read on her face, her expression, the reasoning behind her actions. He could tell so much from simply looking at a pony about who they were. To him, a stranger was like an open book waiting to be read and examined and understood. But every now and then he would meet one that, beyond the obvious details, he couldn't quite figure out. That made them a lot more interesting, of course, though it somewhat put him on edge. With others, he knew exactly what he was getting. Sometimes he could even predict their entire half of a conversation (though this was mainly with ponies he had met multiple times), but he was quite unsure in this case. He had thought before that he knew her. Now he wasn't certain.

As he was fruitlessly trying to fathom what she was thinking, Betterbones realised he'd been staring, and turned his eyes toward the slick path ahead that sparkled with the mist of the rain.

"Thank you." He said, his tone a little more even than it had been, as though his dramatic problems had been forgotten for a moment while he was distracted by his interesting new friend.

Winter Iris was her name. She enquired as to his, and he hesitated, confronted with the same issue he always had when meeting somepony new outside of the practice. He was never sure whether to introduce himself as 'Dr. Betterbones', or just 'Betterbones'. Technically, the title was part of his name, but he always thought it just sounded like showing off to say it like that. It was an issue he had often grappled with. There was no rulebook for doctors on questions like these.

"Betterbones." He smiled politely in return, "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ms. Iris."

It wasn't like he was lying by omitting details, he justified to himself, but given that he usually understood everything about a pony upon meeting them, and Winter Iris presented him with a questionmark, he felt that he needed to keep the playing field even by reserving something about himself. It was insurance. It was, he knew, insecurity on his part. He also knew that he was overanalysing the conversation, but this was the curse of a gifted mind.

"I perceive you're into the performing arts." He noted casually as they walked, "Are you big in Canterlot? I don't spend a lot of time here anymore, so I wouldn't know... but imagine that, if I was rescued by a celebrity and didn't even know it!"

Don't bother reading it, it means nothing without context But when I write up an RP reply I copy/paste it into word for two reasons: a backup incase my browser crashes, and also for the spellcheck.

Her charity had been enough of a surprise when she had simply offered for him to trail along beside her in an attempt to keep out of the rain, but now the mysterious mare was actually seeking 'warmth and dryness' for him? Even for somepony who wasn't brought up with the snobbish attitudes of the Canterlot elite, going out of her way to make sure he could settle somewhere out of the rain was a rare and unexpected act of kindness.

As they began off at a trot, Betterbones couldn't help but look at his companion, trying to read on her face, her expression, the reasoning behind her actions. He could tell so much from simply looking at a pony about who they were. To him, a stranger was like an open book waiting to be read and examined and understood. But every now and then he would meet one that, beyond the obvious details, he couldn't quite figure out. That made them a lot more interesting, of course, though it somewhat put him on edge. With others, he knew exactly what he was getting. Sometimes he could even predict their entire half of a conversation (though this was mainly with ponies he had met multiple times), but he was quite unsure in this case. He had thought before that he knew her. Now he wasn't certain.

As he was fruitlessly trying to fathom what she was thinking, Betterbones realised he'd been staring, and turned his eyes toward the slick path ahead that sparkled with the mist of the rain.

"Thank you." He said, his tone a little more even than it had been, as though his dramatic problems had been forgotten for a moment while he was distracted by his interesting new friend.

Winter Iris was her name. She enquired as to his, and he hesitated, confronted with the same issue he always had when meeting somepony new outside of the practice. He was never sure whether to introduce himself as 'Dr. Betterbones', or just 'Betterbones'. Technically, the title was part of his name, but he always thought it just sounded like showing off to say it like that. It was an issue he had often grappled with. There was no rulebook for doctors on questions like these.

"Betterbones." He smiled politely in return, "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ms. Iris."

It wasn't like he was lying by omitting details, he justified to himself, but given that he usually understood everything about a pony upon meeting them, and Winter Iris presented him with a questionmark, he felt that he needed to keep the playing field even by reserving something about himself. It was insurance. It was, he knew, insecurity on his part. He also knew that he was overanalysing the conversation, but this was the curse of a gifted mind.

"I perceive you're into the performing arts." He noted casually as they walked, "Are you big in Canterlot? I don't spend a lot of time here anymore, so I wouldn't know... but imagine that, if I was rescued by a celebrity and didn't even know it!"

Vermin Supreme specfically had crazy policies because he wants to make a mockery of the US government.

Yeah, I get that. My point is, if we decide we want to vote for him, he'll have a fair chance of actually getting there. Now, I'm not an American, but REALLY, TRULY, do you want this guy running things?