brianblackberry

Braeburn smiled in anticipation of hearing Straight Arrow reveal what filly he had his eye on, but the shy pegasus resorted to that old excuse. That was alright, Braeburn didn't want to be too pushy with someone he'd just met - he was just hoping to be encouraging, [colour=#daa520]"Well, sorry t'hear the apple of your eye is currently with somepony, but there still plenty of available ponies out thar' for ya. It was still great to meet y'all!"[/colour] Braeburn gave the two brothers each a hoofshake and smiled brightly before turning back to his date for the evening. [colour=#daa520]"Thankee fer allowin' me th' privilege of escorting y'all home."[/colour]

As Braeburn escorted Caramel Bistrol back towards her place, he gave one last look-see towards the town square. It appeared most ponies had smiles on their faces, and plenty of ponies seemed paired off - once again, a success! In fact, the only pony that seemed to be grumbling was the little red filly picking up bits of trash in the street as they walked by, and Braeburn gave her mane a quick and friendly rubbing.

Arriving at the Bistro, Braeburn removed his black dress Steston and smiled warmly,[colour=#daa520] "it was a wonderful pleasure and privilege to have been your date tonight, Miss Caramel Bistro, and ah hope y'all had a great time at your first AAAAAAPPLELOOSIAN hoedown!"[/colour] With that, Braeburn leaned forward and gave his date a soft kiss on the cheek.

There is a new city being built, Fleur is in charge of that, I dunno there is a name for it yet; should also eventually be added to the network.

As it started to rain, Cheerilee looked up in annoyance, her mane dropping instantly. She knew she had checked ahead of time with the weather pegasai to make sure it was scheduled to be sunny. Somepony wasn’t doing their job! [colour=#800080]"Listen to Miss Bumpkin, class, and get inside now - don't worry if you have enough apples, we’ll get you some extras! Hurry along now!” [/colour] Cheerilee hadn’t forgotten that somepony started that fire, but she didn’t like the idea of making the class stand in the cold rain until she found out.

And Bumpkin had apologized? It was her class that set Bumpkin’s tree on fire, ruined sacks of her feed, and made a general mess of things, yet their host was apologizing. She was at a loss for words. [colour=#800080]“It's ... It’s alright, believe me, we regularly have things go willy nilly on a field trip, it’s all part of the job!”[/colour] Cheerilee smiled, hoping to reassure their host.

She hurried forward to catch up with Reno as they hurried inside. She understood, he was a foal after all, not a firefighter; she couldn’t reasonably expect any of the students to have helped put out the fire, it was just a blessing so many managed to rally together to help advert what could have been a disaster. She smiled warmly, [colour=#800080]“And don't you worry, hon; you kept the bunny with you and tried to safely hide her; I am glad you were thinking of her safety even when you were frightened. We all get frightened from time to time, but you didn’t panic, now hurry along.”[/colour]

Cheerilee turned to a now soaked Zecora and smiled warmly, [colour=#800080]“if you wouldn’t mind helping escort of the students in, I would very much appreciate it.”[/colour] She couldn’t figure out why Zecora kissed her the way she did, perhaps that was how Zebras showed friendship or approval, or maybe to say things were going to be alright; there was just so much she still needed to understand about Unyasian culture, but none the less it was greatly appreciated.

I can invent some reason for him to be in that RP and for him to stay in the RP (social situation).

why not? Its perfectly legit to have a cutie mark story where your blank flank, tries something, then:

he/she picks it up really quickly (aptitude)

OR

finds it easy for some reason (natural innate talent)

OR

has some prior knowledge/interest which allows him/her to do one of the above 2

then cutie mark appears

This was all supposed to be a lighthearted post akin to common tropes and cliches you see being talked about on TV Tropes. There is no hard rule saying your character can't be shy or awkward; there is nothing wrong with that. People are talking the extremes where say someone comes up with a character not socially awkward but deliberately anti-social to the point that they attempt, or wish, to disrupt social interaction between others, or absolutely do not want to socialize and live in extreme isolation. Others make characters purposely malevolent.

Wow...

I finally got back on the server and fixed my house and finished to many tunnels and...

*sigh*

When is there a mod on usually? I'd like to request a wee small favour.

Contact me on the chat PM here or on xbox, I'll work to pop on for you.

Some fun pictures:

Oh Fluttershy, you and trees!

Pinkie has you in her sights and is about to hit you with an artillery of luvs.

Borderlands II Joke:

In the game Borderlands II, the main villain, Handsome Jack, bragged he is so wealthy he bought a pony who is made purely of diamond, which he expounds upon for a small time (he is really proud of that diamond pony).

Braeburn had a great big smile on his face, [colour=#daa520]“well ah reckon ah kin get Big Mac t’ come an’ tell us all ‘bout his crush, but why don’t y’all tell me all about yours first?”[/colour] He gave a small grin. [colour=#daa520]“Ah’m plumb tuckered y’all came t’me ‘bout it.” [/colour] Of course Big Mac was busy in an apple bucking contest with Pink Lady, but that only presented opportunity! He would just have to get in on that competition too, make a small wager, and win. Sure, Big Mac was bigger, but Applejack did most of the bucking on Sweet Apple, just as Braeburn did back home in Appleloosa; the goldenrod stallion figured he had the edge through his superior experience. He’d win, Big Mac would honor the wager, and tell him all about that schoolmare he be crushin’ on.

That train of thought was suddenly interrupted by his grandma screaming about pigs escaping. Well he couldn’t just such a situation stand. [colour=#daa520] “Hold that thought Cousin Bumpkin, gotta help w’the pigs first!”[/colour] Breaburn reared up and gave a good ol’ [colour=#daa520]“yeeeehaaaaa!" [/colour]He than suddenly galloped quickly to move in front of one group of pigs to force them to turn back towards the pen, [colour=#daa520]“here piggy, piggy, piggy, suuuuuie, suuuuuie!”[/colour]

Cheerilee could only imagine what class time would be like if the various pranksters, bullies, and class clowns she had over the years could manage great feats of magic; likely the schoolhouse would be on fire, thunderclouds would chase foals around the yard, and playground equipment would be dancing the jig, or something like that. She rather wondered how they handled this sort of thing in the secondary school some of the older colts and fillies went to. [colour=#800080]“Well, we have our share of regular pranksters, but thank Celestia they don’t have a lot of magical oomph yet; of course that never stopped them from their own unique form of trouble making. As for the unicorns in my class, most of them can’t really do magic yet, but when they try, and boy how they like to, the results can sometimes be… messy. I have this one student in my class now who-”[/colour]

A familiar young voice cut through her reminiscing, as if it was calling out of her memory. Haywire… It’s always Haywire! What had that trouble-making prankster foal done now?!? Cheerilee turned around to see if she could spot the red filly when she noticed out of the corner of her eye several hay bales heading her way from above. Before she could even finish covering her head with her hooves they were stopped in mid-air and gently put aside by her newest acquaintance. [colour=#800080]“Oh, thank you!”[/colour] Cheerilee gave a smiling clap to Ingrid’s “performance”. [colour=#800080]“I bet you were one of those gifted students, yourself!” [/colour] Now she just needed to find out why bales came down - she already knew who…

[colour=#800080]“Haywire!”[/colour] her voice carried over the noise of the party, [colour=#800080]“Come here!”[/colour]

Carrot was really glad that the white unicorn understood what he was wearing, and even complemented him on it. He looked towards Dash with one hoof up mouthing a “see!” at her. After solving that little crisis with the hay bales, he turned to start to gallop towards the barn entrance, hoping that Rarity would follow, he could really use her magic; instead she took to panicking about her messy condition. Carrot sighed, he really needed to get back to Purple, but he couldn’t just leave a pretty mare in distress, even if he thought it wasn’t a big deal. He looked around and spotted the only thing he could think that would help in a quick emergency, a large bucket of water. He quickly picked it up with his forehoooves and dumped the water over the panicking unicorn, washing off the hunks of cake and frosting. It was a vast improvement … she looked good with a wet mane.. Really good. [colour=#ff8c00]“Ach, sorry ‘bout that, its umm.. Well it worked, though! Oi need tae help me sis, though.”[/colour] He couldn’t ask for help again … that would be too pushy. He hurried back outside, hoping Purple had manage to hold up the wagon all this time.

Okay so now Cloudsdale has been near completely obliterated

Yeah I noticed that too. I have whitelist on in case it was off and will keep minecraft running when I can. Star, going to have to ask for a rollback for Cloudsdale.

Carrot Fields sighed - he felt rather uncomfortable; it wasn't that he didn't like kilts or that he wasn't proud of the family colors, he just hated having to dress formally. He was a farmer, after all, an outdoorsy type working the earth and enjoying the simple life. Dressing fancy always felt awkward, especially since they were just going to a birthday party at the farmers next door. To Carrot it was over-the-top for the occasion, but Purple had been insistent. This was really important to her, so much so she had a wagon full of special food, and this importance to his one and only baby sister was the only reason Carrot was willing to go through with this. As they approached the barn, Carrot started to relax a little - the music eased his nerves, and it'd be very nice to take a break from the farming, even if he was wearing his fancy togs.

Just as Carrot heard a snap and looked back to see Purple frantically holding up the food in her wagon from spilling over, he felt a tug on his hoof to be pulled inside quite suddenly. [colour=#ff8c00]"Hold on Pur-Whaaaa!? Dash?!"[/colour] Sure, Dash was a bit of a mess, with dripping cake on her, but it didn't take from her cuteness, and it was enough to distract Carrot for just a moment. The rapid pace of things distracted him for longer than a moment. First, he was being introduced to her friend, a white unicorn, then she was laughing at him, and then she was trotting away. Carrot sat stunned for a moment at all that had happened, then called after her, [colour=#ff8c00]"Oye! It's nae a skirt! It's a kilt! Stallions wear these all the time back in Fet Loch; its considered very stalliony tae show yer family colors!"[/colour]

He sighed softly, then realized he was being rude to the mare he'd just been introduced to. Despite Rarity's chaotic appearance, Carrot gave a shy smile, feeling a renewed awkwardness and self-consciousness. [colour=#ff8c00] "Aye, nice tae meet ye, Miss Rarity. Carrot Fields, at yer call."[/colour] He wanted to say more, but the hecticness wasn't over yet - hay bales suddenly tumbling from the ceiling. Carrot grabbed her hoof and pulled her closer to him, as a hay bale landed with a loud thwump right where she'd been standing. [colour=#ff8c00]"Ach! Wot a close shave!"[/colour]

He looked down to the mare in his hooves and blushed even more, taking a quick step back and quickly brushing the few crumbs of cake and frosting from his clothing. [colour=#ff8c00] "Ach! Um ... are ye a'ight, then? Me 'n moi sis-"[/colour] He paused, remembering. [colour=#ff8c00]"Ach! Me sis! An' me in moi nice togs!"[/colour] He glanced at Rarity. [colour=#ff8c00]"Oi'm sorry tae impose on ye, lass, but couldee give me a hand wi' yer unicorn magic? Oi cannae get me togs dirty an' me sis has a busted wheel ..."[/colour]

Cheerilee smiled and even giggled at the tan unicorn's proclamation,[colour=#800080] "oh its alright, its great to love what you do. In fact I cannot imagine why anypony would choose a career in something that wasn't their passion."[/colour] Cheerilee couldn't see herself really doing anything else but teach, well theater perhaps, but teaching was her first passion, to her it was one of the most important jobs a pony could have. [colour=#800080]"I have heard of your school. Its one of those big name, prestigious academies where only the finest unicorn mages go!"[/colour] Once in a while a prospective student for Cheerilee's school had instead been whisked off for her academy. All of Cheerilee's unicorn students were those who didn't make the cut - but to her, they were just as special.

She took a bite of cake as she watched little Abby excitedly introduce herself to her cousin. It was amazing how wired Apple Bloom was already, and as far as Cheerilee could tell, she hadn't had one piece of cake or a sugary snack yet, Celestia only knows what the little yellow filly was going to be like once she'd had her fill of candy!

Fortunately, Twist managed to distract Applebloom again so Cheerilee could answer Ingrid's inquiry. [colour=#800080]"To tell you the truth, Miss Marie, its an adventure. Not the fairy tale kind, but more like a rollercoster adventure. Some days are great, some days it can be really hard, but you never really know how things will go, and trust me - I do my best to plan out the entire day, week, and month ahead of time." [/colour] Cheerilee chuckled, [colour=#800080]"but having a class full of rambunctious, easily distracted, and mischievous foals offers surprises every day. Of course, with the pegasai, you have students trying to fly out the windows to get to recess, and unicorns trying to cheat with their magic instead of using their hooves like they're supposed to ... with less than predictable results."[/colour] Cheerilee laughed - she had so many stories involving flying or magic mishaps, or earth ponies causing their own brand of mischief.

Trixie sighed and rolled her eyes for the hundreth time as she held aloft an assortment of purple glowing mechanical parts. Once again they were stuck because the Doctor's self-propelled cart had managed to propel itself into throwing another rod, or was it a bolt? Maybe it was another clogged valve, or once again, a fluid leak? She had seen them all during their short time together, and it made her wonder why he didn't just pull the wagon like every other pony did? Still, she had to admit, it was a fascinating contraption, one she had never quite been able to wrap her head around, even though she was sure she had seen every part by now.

[colour=#6699ff]"Taking care of a landshark is nothing if you have a unicorn of sufficient magical prowess to contain him; just one more reason it is good for you to have the Great and Powerful Trixie around to keep you safe!" [/colour] Well, really she was there for the promise of mysterious and ancient magic, an ongoing quest that had lead them from Bridalback to here in the Whitetail with little to show for it other than another breakdown and a slightly leaky canvas which kept dripping right in the back of her neck, and trickled down under her lovely cloak.

Trixie shoved the parts back into place at the Doctor's request. [colour=#6699ff]"I suppose we'll just have to stay here for the night; too late to find an inn now, what with being in the middle of nowhere and all."[/colour] At least it wasn't the Everfree, the worst thing you find around Whitetail were grouchy bears. Generally speaking. She had learned better than to underestimate the trouble this eccentric earth pony could discover in the most innocuous places. [colour=#6699ff]"This next clue had best pan out! Trixie grows impatient to attain the mystical knowledge of the ancients so she may become even a better virtuoso!" [/colour] In truth she wasn't sure what she'd do with this knowledge once they found it, but the temptation was too much to ignore. Right now, she just had to resign to yet another night curled up on the cold wooden floor of the cart, dreaming that she had somepony to snug up next to for warmth other than that bony scarecrow of a pony.

Martini Paradise followed the retreating guard, keeping in his face as he stumbled backwards, a mischievous smile on her face. She hooked the book over her head as if ready to use it as a club. She wouldn't really hit him with it ... she just wanted him to think that - now that she had a chance to look, she could see it was just a colt, not really a guard. more an intern or ... well ... a librarian. A librarian intern. [colour=#cc6699]This ought to be easy.[/colour] Martini got her face in real close to his and gave a look of sassy determination. [colour=#cc6699]"Look, you are going to tell me exactly what I want to know, understand? Now I - "[/colour]

Brazil's dashing and dramatic entrance startled her. He was *such* a stallion of action, all dashing and strong! She doubted he'd actually hurt a book in the library, but he was probably thinking the same thing she was - a bluff. He was just willing to go one step further - which was rather hot ... Martini was about to add to Brazil's dialog, but ... [colour=#cc6699]"Wait? Book? Did you say book?! Nonononono!"[/colour] Was he just confused, or stalling? [colour=#cc6699]"The Bar- Wait, Fifty Colors of Unicorns? Seriously?!"[/colour] Martini looked incredulous,[colour=#cc6699] "do I look like some bored housewife with foals? Well, okay, I have a foal, but I am not some spiritless, blasé mare living vicariously through cheap dime-store romance novels! Why I have a good mind to -”[/colour] Martini held the book menacingly over the colt’s head before she relented, catching herself before she did something stupid they'd both regret. Though his aching noggin would probably be regretting it more. She sighed,[colour=#cc6699] “look ... We are looking for the Baron, a pegasus who came through here with a bunch of goons; he was dark green and wore some bird's nest of a hat, could you pleeeease tell me which way he went?”[/colour]

Carrot Fields had one brow raised with an incredulous expression.[colour=#ff8c00] "Sooo ... ye were trying tae go through th' schoolhouse ... as a shortcut ... to Canterlot ..."[/colour] he said slowly. Clearly felt the colt was lying; going through the schoolhouse as a shortcut indeed! How stupid did this colt think he was? Just another prideful city unicorn who thought all farmer ponies were just dumb hicks?

Carrot would have called the colt out on it, but for the question Dark Core had asked. It was an obvious distraction - but an effective one. Carrot was proud of his little valley and its towns and the unique pony culture there. [colour=#ff8c00] "Purple an' I hie from th' valley of Fet Loch, ye've likely heard ah it; it's onna the valleys east a Canterlot. Its a roit bonnie place ah proud ponies. We've got our culture, food, an' games wot's th' height ah Equestria, but loik all other ponies, loyal tae th' princesses.[/colour]" Carrot walked over to the kitchen as Purple came out and gave her a brotherly hug. "[colour=#ff8c00]Us Carrots, we all hie from there an' have slowly spread around Equestria. Ye e'er pop over that way, Dawn?"[/colour]

I wish this was a real option in Borderlands II - Fluttershy companion:

Yeeeeah, we all know they would be adorkable together:

...Er Question..how would a Stripper pony even WORK?

They um..don't tend to wear clothes...

Seems relevant:

Cheerilee looked surprised for a moment, only saying [colour=#800080]“oh?”[/colour] before she quickly composed herself. It wasn’t that families that had a mix of the three pony types were that uncommon - just that every last Apple seemed to be an earth pony, and there sure were a lot of them. For Cheerilee, to meet an Apple unicorn was one of those wonderfully unexpected delights.

[colour=#4b0082]“Oh, I’m sorry!”[/colour] Her shocked face quickly developing into an embarrassed smile, [colour=#800080]“I didn’t mean to be so surprised, but I never knew there were any unicorns in the family! I guess the Apple clan is larger than I thought. My name is Cheerilee, and I have to admit I was surprised to be invited here as really I am just little Applebloom’s teacher at the local grammar school.”[/colour] Cheerilee gave a bright smile as she shook the unicorn’s hoof, [colour=#800080]“so, what do you do, Ingrid Marie?” [/colour]Despite the apple cutie mark, the unicorn didn’t seem the farmer type.

Roleplay Type: World of Equestria RP

Name: Flitter

Sex: Female

Age: Young Mare

Species: Pegasus

Eye colour: #AF68AA- Bouquet (a type of lavender)

Coat colour: #cfc1ee- Moon Raker (a very light gray-lavender)

Mane/Tail/Markings colour & Style: #d4feec - Aero Blue (a very light blue-green colour). Her mane and tail tend to be rather straight with only a slight waviness. Flitter's mane is parted to the left and she typically wears a pink-violet (#eb7cf7) colored bow with it.

Physique: Average. She is not particularly athletic but is good physical health and has the typical slim form of a pegasus.

Cutie Mark: Three Dragonflies

Origin/Residence: Originally from a village outside of Hoofington, she studied at the university of Equestia-Hoofington. Currently she lives in Ponyville doing graduate work.

Occupation: Graduate level biology student

Motivation: Flitter main goal in life is to become a biologist and someday make a real difference in that field of study that would someday help ponies in a real way better understand the natural world that so influences their lives.

Likes: (optional) Speed flying, cloud diving, animals, insects, science, parties, gaming, techno music

Dislikes: (optional) Dry weather, superstitions, the phrase "Only unicorns have magic."

Character Summary:

History

Flitter grew up having a typical rural village upbringing, knowing most of the colts and fillies her age and having a fairly uneventful foalhood. Not being popular, she had a small but close circle of friends of which she was the only pegasus; this she found to her advantage as she became the unofficial scout of the group whenever they got into the usual mischief young, bored ponies found themselves involved in. Unfortunately for the foals, they weren't very good at not being caught and little Flitter spent a lot of time grounded. It was during these regular confinements that the young filly started to spend more time reading, especially fascinated by books about various plants and animals. Over time, her general reading interests focused more on books about nature and biology, and she enjoyed observing and studying the various critters, and collecting the various plants around her home.

Being a pegasus, she was sent to the Junior Flight Camp in Cloudsdale for a couple years of flight lessons, a routine rite of passage for most young pegasai. While Flitter had above-average flight skills, it was offset by her tendency for her busy and curious mind to wander and daydream, especially when she could watch other flying animals.

After returning home, Flitter became more determined to pursue her special interests - the study of nature, and her enthusiasm for biology. She wanted to help ponies better understand the world around them, and how they interacted with that world. Her grades were good as she attended the local university where she earned her degree in biology, and as she moved into her advanced studies, she especially focused on the subconscious effects of the natural magic of ponies and other plants and animals, as they interacted ot form a stable ecosystem. Eventually, she moved to Ponyville for field study and research, especially for study on the nearby Everfree Forest, which has hundreds of specimens never seen by pony.

It was in Ponyville were Flitter met Cloudchaser in one of several town events, the geeky pegasus hoping to make some new friends and find a social outlet. The two became fast friends, and Cloudchaser helped to draw Flitter out, giving her a makeover and taking her to more parties and social events. Flitter found she really loved dancing and fast beats. Over a short time, the two became inseparable and complimented each other's personalities well, growing very close and developing a relationship.

Parents

Flitter's parents are what most ponies would call "average country folks", who still reside outside of a small village near Hoofington. Her father, Rain Runner, was the local head weather pony for the village. Her mother, Leaf Breeze, was a herb gardener. Flitter still maintains regular contact with her folks, despite living in her own loft in Ponyville. The folks, having very different jobs themselves are pretty open-minded about what their daughter wants to do with her life.

Cutie Mark Story

Flitter always held a usually high affinity for the plants and animals when growing up, some saying she took after her herbalist mother. That interest began to hone into a more focused desire to understand the living things of Equestria during the frequent groundings she found herself in as a young filly, meaning she was either helping in the gardens, or observing from and reading up on various critters from her room. She was particularly fascinated by the dragonflies that frequented the various bushes outside of her room. As much as she liked to watch them, she could only observe them as long as they stayed. One day her curiously got the better of her and she followed them around all day, observing how they acted, and more interestingly, interacted with the world around them. Despite finding herself lost, she was more enthralled by the amazing life of the forest than her predicament, enough that she finally felt she knew what she wanted to do in life, hence her cutie mark appeared. Fortunately (or unfortunately) for Flitter, her parents soon found her and she had to spend another week grounded, but to her it was easily worth it.

Flaws

Flitter is prone to periods of self-doubt and indecisiveness, while not debilitating it can lead to her having a reputation for being a “stick in the mud”. This also causes her to sometime simply follow the crowd or go with whatever others want to do in their rash decisions even if it’s not a good course of action. These personality traits also occasionally lead to her feeling she has to try extra hard to fit in, sometimes causes her to go along with a crowd when try behavior poorly (like laughing at another pony’s misfortune), although she feels pretty guilty afterwards.

Personality

Although Flitter has learned to be social and generally outgoing, she is still rather reserved, and is prone to shyness if attention somehow signally focuses on her. In gatherings she will often let others take the lead and she is usually willing to at least voice her opinion as the voice of caution when it comes to anything seen as risky. Flitter can be also pretty bookish at times, especially when she is enthralled with whatever she is reading, easily losing track of time. Despite this, she does keep herself fit and has some affinity for various pegasus sports.

Pictures!

Forum: Chapien

Minecraft: Chapien

Fairly straightforward.

Added.

If you have any issues bug me on Skype.

Also the max is set to two, could it be back to four please.

All my love and congratulations to you two.

Cheerilee gave a great big smile, taken in by little Applebloom's enthusiastic greeting. Sure, the hug may have gotten little cake bits in her now messed up mane, but that was alright; if Cheerilee was used to anything as a teacher of rambunctious, active foals, it was routinely getting at least a little messy. "Hello again, Applebloom." Cheerilee laughed at the idea she'd have trouble finding the farm, anypony in Ponyville knew where Sweet apple Acres was. The iconic red barn was on a hill large enough to be seen by most of town. She was about to say something to that effect when she was practically tossed a followup piece of cake by Applebloom before the little filly disappeared in a streak of hyperactive red and yellow towards the next guest.

Cheerilee carried the plate of cake with her mouth to nearby table, then opened her saddlebag to pull out a small, wrapped present. It took her a little while to figure out what to get Abby, thinking something helpful but not too educational and boring. When she remembered all the crusading she and her two close little friends did all the time, the proper gift finally came to her in a flash of insight.

After placing the present on the table next to the others, she looked around. She knew every colt and filly in the room of course, all students, and she smiled towards them, but Cheerilee was more interested in chatting with the other adults. She rarely got to do so other than teacher-parent conferences. She picked a cream colored unicorn whom she'd never seen before - perhaps she could avoid work-talk if they didn't have a foal at the school. Cheerilee trotted up to Ingrid Marie and smiled. "Hello there, my name is Cheerilee, are you a friend of the family?"

Braeburn watched as Caramel continued to defend her point of view. He'd said his piece, and that'd be enough for him, normally. In his mind he knew that Buffalo Run would be an orchard all Apples could be proud of. Many were proud of it already; he just needed the time to prove it to those like Caramel. TO show, not talk, about why it came through. But a few things still ate at him - Caramel seemed to dismiss his knowledge, as if he was just some dumb hick, and ignored that he was personally involved in all the business elements she glossed over as unimportant... and also, just that it seemed to upset her so much, and he hated to see family members being all upset. He remembered the arguments back when he was planning Appleloosa with the family ... but he hadn't realized that Caramel was still upset about how things had turned out.

Oh, golly, he sure didn't want the *rest* of his family to hear him talkin' this way ... they'd tease him to no end. But if it kept things from a family squabble ... and made Caramel feel better ... then maybe it'd be worth it. He put his forehoof over Caramel's shoulders and quietly and quickly spoke, so that nopony else could hear. "Listen up, if'n y'all look at th' faimly as a business, then y'gotta look at the family not as a veritcal business but a horizontal one - which requires greater buy-in by th' employees else yer ROI goes down. Th' motivational aspect becomes not an additive but a multiplicative factor on th' books. If'n y'all look at th' standard business model, yer jes focusin' on th' benefits of cost vs. profit, but theah's more to a business model than th' red an' black. Th' costs due th' area are large, true, but th' payback comes by th' increase of th' channels available. Ah dunno what y'all have heard bout th' rails goin' in, but seein' as ah've been in th' plannin' meetings for those, and y'all ain't, then ah'd appreciate y'all not tellin' me that ah'm lyin' when ah say those rails wouldn't be goin' in if'n Appleloosa weren't theah. Ah'm sure a student ah' business like yerself can appreciation th' growth factors that new channels bring t'the profit generation section of a business model, even indirectly. Not t'mention, when y'all consider th' reverse transition of th' buy-in from customers, leadin' t' the increase ah sales with the perspective ah local clients, folks just buy more bushels when they see themselves as supportin' local ponies. Y'all know th' numbers on that an' ah'm sure y'all won't argue with yer own books, would ya?" He gave her a weak grin. "Ah don't want a fight heah, caramel - y'all know th' family would jump all over y'all fer seemin' t'care more bout bits than bout us. Save yer concerns an' we'll come up wi' a time later fer ye t' chaw with me bout yer worries without a dozen ponies jumpin' in on ya. An' ah do hope ah kin introduce ya'll t'ma new friend Maximilian Rockefilly." He did hope that name would appease her a bit. A financialy-minded pony like Caramel just *had* to know who one of the richest ponies in Equestria was!

He stepped away with a light little pat, hoping Caramel would be appeased with that for now. He'd really have to take some time soon to talk with her - she really was such a boon to the family, with her sharp business mind ... if she got too upset, the family had no idea how much it'd suffer!

Ah well. The goldenrod stallion then turned to Bumpkin, grinning broadly his ears perked up eagerly. "Now, lil' cuz' Bumpkin. What's this about y'all havin' a crush? Why, that's right sweet. An' here ah was hopin' t'talk t'Big Mac bout *his* crush. Three of us should get t'gether - y'know that Big Mac won't talk much bout his feelin's less we make him feel comfortable, right?" He gave Bumpkin a friendly nudge. "Then you kin tell us bout this mare y'all fancy, an' maybe he'll feel comfortable enough to tell us bout this local school teacher I hear he's been seein'! Can't wait t'hear bout yer special mare. Wanna know her name, how y'all know her, an' does she know y'all fancy her?" He grins. "Ah'm just thrilled fer ya, cuz!"

Scootaloo ship!

For those who are wondering, the colt is Rumble, who is Thunderlane's little brother and appeared in Hurricane Fluttershy.

Braeburn smiled broadly and then gave a hardy laugh, "well who'd ah reckoned? Mah cuz AJ as a regular at a day spa, getting her hooves and mane all prettied up!" He chuckled in amusement, just imagining Applejack's mane in a towel, her body wrapped in seaweed while laying in a mud bath with cucumbers over her eyes. He would definitely have to asks cousin about her 'spa routine' the next time he visited.

Of course, it would be a bit of hypocrisy to poke fun at his cousin for going when he would also be accepting Lotus' invitation, but he had a real reason! After all, what stallion would refuse the invitation of a mare this stunning? Especially since she promised personal attention. In Braeburn's mind that was justification enough. It certainly couldn't hurt, and given his recent string of dating failures maybe it was time for something radical, even if that meant spending a day at some hoity toity spa.

Braeburn turned back to face their kind and enthusiastic host and grinned a bit impishly at his comment was mentioned how he scarfed those honey drizzled slices. "Well, what can Ah say? Honey and apples seem t' go together naturally, like they were meant for each other."

Carrot Fields smiled to the enthusiastic little Apple Bloom, raising his glass in response to the toast. "Aye!" he agreed, then lifted the glass.

"You lichke Schportchs, Carrok? Schu wanna challenche me to a grape wreshtle?" Applejack angle her eyes and gave a teasing grin.

Carrot sprayed Purple Haze's delicious carrot juice out into Applejack's face. He coughed and wheezed, beating his hoof on his chest, his eyes water. Grape Wrestling? In a vat of grapes? Was that even a thing? "Ach! Oi'm sorrae! Oi dinnae mean tae do that!" He grabbed up a hooffull of napkins and dabbed at her face and her chest, his eyes wide. Way to impress, Carrot, you dumbtail! "Oi'm sorrae! Ach, jes ... jes ha' a tickle theah. Course Oi'll challenge ye!" Even if his own family pride wouldn't have allowed him to back down ... well ... he could hardly back down now, after having sprayed her like that!

He coughed a little more, and took a deep gulp of his juice, both to sooth the coughing fit and to give himself time to recover himself.

"Ach, aye, the Iron Pony competition. dinnae have th' chance tae sign up fer that, this year, wot wi' the farm an' all, and we dinnae have those back in Fet Loch. We had th' Highland Games, though, which were roit close! Used tae participate back as a colt before the REA! We dinnae have grape wrestlin' or Cloud Divin - that sounds a pegasus sport, actually - but we hae caber buckin', an' Maide Leisg, an' weight buckin', an' all th' classics!"

"Aye, Camping's a great idea! Ye an' me big Brae kin share a tent!"

Carrot coughed into his drink and sprayed juice again - but this it hit into the glass and sprayed back into his own face, leaving him just as soaked with the juice as Applejack was.