Ofolrodi

by Imploding Colon

The Things Wildcard Says

"You're not gonna be making much smoke, are ya, Keps?" Logan asked, squinting cross the campsite.

"Negatorry, frriend." Kepler stoked the freshly-prepared flames. He had fashioned a crude spit utilizing old Emeraldinian metals. With the turn of a makeshift crank, he rotated the slain creature from hours ago, cooking it from all angles. "I've used a rreagent frrom my alchemy kit. The fumes should not be too grreat. If I turrn out to be wrrong, we can simply use a lunarr rrune to quickly extinguish it."

"Well, okay..." Logan exhaled. He resumed erecting a tent across the clearing. A series of rock formations flanked the campsite, dripping with luminescent vines. The Herald nestled themselves safely within the penumbra of the alien fungae's glow. "You just give us a tongue-rolling shout as soon as you need anything."

"Someone's itching to do a taste-test," Flynn droned.

"I suspected that it was my place to endurre such," Kepler said.

"Don't worry, Keps." Ariel flew back and forth between the wagon with supplies. "We'll make sure that Big Show doesn't eat our only chance in testing the quality of meat around here."

"It's not about that!" Logan grunted.

"Point well taken." Flynn smirked in the middle of setting up a tent. "If Kepler's experiment proves helpful, Big Show can just run off and inhale his own meat."

"Ha-Hah!"

Logan snorted. "Shitbags, the whole lot of you."

"You know you love ussssss," Ariel said melodically.

"Bite me."

"Not until Kepler tests you first."

"Heheheheh..."

In the meantime, Rainbow Dash sat down, sipping from a canteen. She sat across from Wildcard who was setting up another fire—this one closer to the camp. The petite pegasus delighted in the warmth from the freshly-lit flame. Her friends gathered close by, mellow and quiet.

"Mmmmm..." Rainbow took a last drink of water and screwed her container shut. "Not that I'm complaining... but I expected a tad bit less mundanity from a place forever labeled 'the Dark Side.'"

"Rainbow Dash?" Rarity's eyelashes fluttered. "Darling?" Her dainty expression hardened into an iron scowl. "Do kindly close your trap."

"Heeheehee!" Pinkie Pie giggled.

"Girls, please..." Fluttershy interjected. "She didn't mean anything stupid by it." The mare sighed out the side of her muzzle. "Even if it was a stupid thing to say."

Rainbow Dash winced. "Yeahhhhhhhhh... I do have a habit of inviting the worst." She looked across the fire at Wildcard. "Good thing I'm with friends who are used to the worst, eh, Wildcard?"

Wildcard looked back at her. He smiled under his dark goggles. The lenses reflected Rainbow's earnest smile in the firelight.

Rainbow sighed. "How are you holding up?"

Wildcard gave a thumb's up. With an Emeraldinian rapier, he stoked the flames. He breathed in... breathed out. After a silent pause, the griffin looked at Rainbow again.

Rainbow looked back.

Wildcard glanced over at the group. His headcrest drooped... as if in contemplation. He readjusted his metal grip of the rapier, then looked back at Rainbow Dash. Shuffling sideways—away from the flame—he squatted closer to her. The stone floor of the campsite had a thin layer of dirt and ash covering it. With slow movement of his limbs, he drew the tip of the blade across the sediment.

Rainbow Dash watched with silent attention.

Gradually, the Desperado formed legible words in the dirt. He did so with surprisingly good handwriting, positioned so that the pegasus could read.

Rainbow's friends all floated closer. They craned their ghostly necks to see over her shoulder.

At long last, the griffin finished. When he was done, the word "WILDCARD" rested between them in all capital letters. He paused when he was done, looking up at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow's eyes met his goggles.

He held up a metal finger... then reached down to underline the first word "WILD." When he was done, he placed the sword down and sat up straight. He then proceeded to make complex motion with his right talon. Multiple fingers stretched out in various directions morphed into just one talon pointing straight up. He repeated the motion, all the while rotating the talon in question clockwise.

Rainbow blinked.

After half-a-minute, Wildcard picked up the sword again. He circled the "CARD" part, then placed the weapon back down. Facing Rainbow directly, he cradled both hands together, then charaded "dealing cards" across the table. It wasn't until the third repetition of this that Rainbow realized he was moving his beak with each signal so as to convey the phrase.

"Is this time for Go Fish?" Pinkie squeaked. An orange hoof slapped across her head. "Owie!"

"Land's sakes, Pinkie!" Applejack leaned back. "Dun you see what's goin' on?"

"It's his name," Twilight Sparkle murmured. She looked directly at their anchor. "He's teaching you how to say his name."

"Uhhhhhhhhh..." Rainbow Dash looked at her stubby hooves. With a crooked smile, she looked at Wildcard and shrugged.

Wildcard waved his metal hand from side to side. He smiled placatingly under his beak.

"He's not teaching us how to say it, darling," Rarity calmly reassured. "Simply how to 'read' it."

"Ohhhhhhhh." Twilight nodded. "That would make sense."

Next, Wildcard held a finger up.

Rainbow watched intently.

Using the broad side of the Emeraldinian sword, Wildcard smoothed the dust and dirt between them. Using his metal finger this time, he produced new letters.

Rainbow sensed a silver-feathered figure atop the wagon craning her neck and looking at the scene with sudden interest. The mare ignored Seraphimus for the time being, staring intently at the Desperado the entire time.

Wildcard finished writing the two words in the dirt. He underlined "RAINBOW." Then—facing the pegasus—he spread the fingers of both talons partially, with his left hand pointed up and his right hand stretched over so that it was facing down toward's the left. Then, while mouthing the word, he pulled his right hand from right to left before Rainbow Dash in a curved arc. He repeated this multiple times, with Rainbow watching intently.

"Hey!" Pinkie grinned. "It's Dashie!"

"Half of her, anyway," Applejack said.

"This is so... so fascinating," Twilight Sparkle cooed. "Back in Equestria, there's a system for wordless communicating via the levitation of small sticks—but only unicorns can do it." She blinked. "Looks like—in Wyvern Point—they invented a robust vocabulary for just their natural-born digits!"

Rainbow leaned forward. "What about 'Dash?'"

Wildcard circled the second half of Rainbow's name. However, his metal finger stalled in the dirt. Goggles rattled as he stared blankly forward for a few seconds.

"Awwwwwww..." Fluttershy pouted. "You stumped him!"

"I suppose wyverns are simply slow-moving," Rarity droned, causing Pinkie to giggle again.

The Desperado fumed silently for a second. Then—after smacking the back of his feathered skull—he faced Rainbow directly. He held his right hand up with two fingers pointing up and his thumb out. Then—quickly—he brought both fingers together in almost a "snapping" motion while dragging his hand swiftly towards the center of his torso. He repeated this—preceding it with the "RAINBOW" signal this time. In the end, he smiled beneath his beak.

"Awesome..." Rainbow evaluated. Her wingtips fluttered. "Do your name again."

Wildcard did so—far faster this time.

Rainbow's ruby eyes darted, but she found that she was recognizing it.

"Cool," she said. The mare looked over her shoulder. Blue cheeks turned a bit rosy. "Uhhh..." She leaned towards Wildcard with a devilish smirk. "Do 'Ariel.'"

"... ... ..." Wildcard sat perfectly still.

"Wuh oh..." Applejack winced.

Wildcard sighed... albeit with a soft smile. He rubbed the sediment smooth once again. Then—grabbing Rainbow's attention—he drew simply the letter "A." Immediately afterwards, he held his flesh talon up in a fist with the shiny wrist facing Rainbow. Shortly after, he drew an "R," then raised two fingers up—with his pointing finger crossing slightly in front of the middle.

"Hoo boy..." Rainbow Dash stifled a chuckle.

"This... might take a while," Twilight Sparkle said.

Comments

[Hawattie]

I'm not an expert, but judging from the two letters of Ariel's name it looks like Wildcard uses ASL. Or at least the same alphabet.

[IceKitsune]

Awww this is kind of cute. I love that he's teaching her and by extent us at least somewhat.

[Sylicath]

As an ASL student, this is really nice to see.

[Sam the Anti-Ninja]

"This is so... so fascinating," Twilight Sparkle cooed. "Back in Equestria, there's a system for wordless communicating via the levitation of small sticks—but only unicorns can do it." She blinked. "Looks like—in Wyvern Point—they invented a robust vocabulary for just their natural-born digits!"

Met a lot of people while I was living in North Carolina that knew ASL. My biggest regret was never learning it.

[Tim the Planes-pony]

Well, I suppose there are worse ways to spend one's time than learning a new language.

[Hyped for what]

Really liked this chapter not much more to say.

[Vermaak]

Vaya...

Your hability here to describe all of Wildcard’s motions is amazing. Even if I’m not english myself I understood perfectly all of it.

Good job

[Those Kids In The Corner]

As i know some sign language from my brother being deaf, I was surprisingly giddy to see a chapter on Wildcard teaching it to Rainbow. Adorable.

[General Lemarc]

The Things Wildcard Says

You mean like and, or maybe ?(this would be much funnier if the comments would let me put in blank spaces.)

"Girls, please..." Fluttershy interjected. "She didn't mean anything stupid by it." The mare sighed out the side of her muzzle. "Even if it was a stupid thing to say."

Brushes with death will do wonders for assertiveness, or at least sarcasm.

[Merula]

From the title, I thought Wildcard would actually speak. Guess I can just keep dreaming

[Nevlamas]

Well, two words down, thousands to go. At least she won't get bored anytime soon now.

[Leftover of Saikano]

He then proceeded to make complex motion with his right talon. Multiple fingers stretched out in various directions morphed into just one talon pointing straight up.

alessandravita.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/italian-hand-gesture.jpg

Anyways, we now know what Wildcard calls Rainbow. And for Ariel, if he has to spell every letter to say her name, why not give her a nickname that is just one or two words long, with words that have gestures he knows? Like calling her "grey horse" or something.

[The_K_Man]

8482501,8482532,8482556,8482686,8482703

I certainly share the sentiment about how ASL is both described and implemented this chapter. While I have little to no experience with signing, I've found that this dictionary was really quick to verify the descriptions of the motions forming each of Wildcard's words. While cheekily ruining Suspension of Disbelief, I would chuckle if Wildcard used these two words to form Ariel's name (little mermaid) as opposed to some variant of "lion of god" (if I looked up the name-history correctly) or "golden"(Auriel).

Interesting dynamic to occur here for both Seraphimus and Rainbow both learning words from Wildcard.

[arancaytar]

The Things Wildcard Says

I loved everything about that story.

[arancaytar]

"It's his name," Twilight Sparkle murmured. She looked directly at their anchor. "He's teaching you how to say his name."

Rainbow: "Ever die snorkling this after camel! Ocean bliss killed sugar votes carriage! Some oranges hate cooking art hats that ordain anarchy!"

Wildcard: "... Close enough."

"Do 'Ariel.'"

That's your job, Dashie.

[arancaytar]

8483501

little mermaid

Making an implausibly fourth-wall-breaky reference and a Disney joke? I can't believe Skirts passed that up.

[Hazard]

Rainbow, here's your sign.

[Revan]

You need to have more shorthand words, Wildcard. If something as simple as "Ariel" requires spelling, how could you sign fast enough to inform Ariel of something pressing in a combat situation?

[Silver Flare]

8483130
Many deaf people will invent or give out a name sign to others within or near the deaf community. It's part sign of endearment, part rite of passage.

8485993
While you've got a point, you might be surprised how quickly things can be fingerspelled by someone fluent in it. Owing, of course, that the reader can follow along.

[Cynderfall]

Daww so cute~

[JustAnotherTimeLord]

Man, it's going to be really weird when Rainbow will finally be able to understand Wildcard because that will be that he Will have "dialogue," so to speak. It should prove to be pretty cool.

[Swan Song]

"Cool," she said. The mare looked over her shoulder. Blue cheeks turned a bit rosy. "Uhhh..." She leaned towards Wildcard with a devilish smirk. "Do 'Ariel.'"
"... ... ..." Wildcard sat perfectly still.

fucking HEEEEEEEEEEEE~

i haven’t heeee’d this hard since Kera was part of the crew

[Tim the Planes-pony]

"This... might take a while," Twilight Sparkle said.

Good thing the journey's a long one
11/08/2017
17:07 UTC

[Super Trampoline]

8523546
I miss Kera.

[BleedingRaindrops]

Lol, it's literally just ASL

[Prism Break]

This is why Wildcard is one of my favorites.

[Youdidwhat]

I love that's she's learning. Maybe later she'll be able to understand him completely.

[Tim the Planes-pony]

About time Rainbow learned a new language.

11/15/2019
00:35 UTC

[NeoNymph]

Wildcard sighed... albeit with a soft smile. He rubbed the sediment smooth once again. Then—grabbing Rainbow's attention—he drew simply the letter "A." Immediately afterwards, he held his flesh talon up in a fist with the shiny wrist facing Rainbow. Shortly after, he drew an "R," then raised two fingers up—with his pointing finger crossing slightly in front of the middle.

Oh, it’s just the ASL sign language. :D

[Sora Flare]

Well, this was a cool chapter. Learning a little bit about how Wildcard speaks.

""Cool," she said. The mare looked over her shoulder. Blue cheeks turned a bit rosy. "Uhhh..." She leaned towards Wildcard with a devilish smirk. "Do 'Ariel.'"

"... ... ..." Wildcard sat perfectly still."

Just kiss her already...

[Level Dasher]

Looks like I'm not the only one that's impressed and happy to see that Wildcard just straight up uses ASL. I took a few semesters of it in college and can confirm some of the words and letters. But yeah, sometimes people in the Deaf community will give a hearing person their own 'official' name sign, and Wildcard just gave Rainbow hers. Seems that he's stuck on one for Ariel for now, but it wouldn't surprise me if Logan's already got one.

[SnowOriole]

This was so bucking cute I'm going to bucking melt

---

"... ... ..." Wildcard sat perfectly still.

"Wuh oh..." Applejack winced.

Wildcard sighed... albeit with a soft smile.

Does he have a crush or WHAT
Edit: Nah

[hypervelocity]

"It's his name," Twilight Sparkle murmured. She looked directly at their anchor. "He's teaching you how to say his name."

Yaaaaay! I've been waiting for this! The best boy wants Rainbow to understand him on her own!

Rainbow's ruby eyes darted, but she found that she was recognizing it.

Yes yes yes! My heart is happy~ 💖

[The Bromeister]

"Mmmmm..." Rainbow took a last drink of water and screwed her container shut. "Not that I'm complaining... but I expected a tad bit less mundanity from a place forever labeled 'the Dark Side.'"

Oh FFS! Now you’re just asking for it!