11695998 It's a reference to a coming-of-age novel by Rudyard Kipling, about a character who finds himself out his element [a rich boater who gets lost at sea and rescued by a fishing boat who isn't going to risk their catch taking some guy back to port], It's good reading
11698378 I suppose it's fairly obvious they're not the same person, but sometimes it does get confusing when there's an identical main character but told from the perspective of different first-person narrators.
Also other amusing facts: this is the third iteration of a home depot fic I wrote (the first was a HiE, and then I thought 'wouldn't it be better if . . .' and here we are now.
Operation Ivy was written after this was started, but before it was completed.
11699001 I don't think it hutrs to mention it anyway, just in case someone hadn't realized. If you hadn't read Operation Ivy for a while you might've forgotten the details.
And neat! Why did you publish Operation before this one?
And neat! Why did you publish Operation before this one?
Mostly 'cause I'd been watching YouTube videos of fixing/trimming cow hooves, and thought that writing a fic about that would be a fun idea. This one wasn't done yet, and I decided not to wait before publishing.
Over on my main on FimFic, there's a number of stories where a spinoff got published before the original fic (if the original fic ever got published), pretty much for the same reason. Like Spring Weather is a spinoff of an unfinished story on Offprint using a character from a then-unpublished chapter of Como Salsa Por Los Tacos.
… wait. She’s going to have him spend the whole weekend pouring a foundation, isn’t she?
* One wild, rumpus filled weekend later... *
I sat on a bar stool eating my tangy green sorrel malted milkshake and watching the machinist ponies work on the other side of the observation window. This was Shakes and Shapers, an honest-to-goodness combination of 1950's drugstore soda fountain and machining job shop. It sounded like such a bizarre setup that had no right existing, but Ivy assured me such things were very common back in Equestria.
It is true what they say: "Three things you can watch forever: fire burning, water falling, and another man working". While there was nothing on fire or flooding here, the large observation window between the two shops provided plenty of the last. The worker ponies (and gryphon) certainly did not mind all the attention and would occasionally smile and wave back to all us drugstore patrons watching them.
There was something hypnotising about watching the shapers on the production floor move back and forth, back and forth in unison. The hypnotic effect was further enhanced by all the intricate decorations on the machines. Equestrians had a very strong aesthetic sense and so every piece was damascened with intricate heart and flower motifs. They were shiny and gleaming and could have served as centrefold promotional material for any of their respective companies' marketing material. The effect was a bit diminished by all the large googly eyes they stuck on everything though.
Currently all the machinists were doing some sort of cheerfully happy song and dance routine carefully choreographed to the movement of the shapers. Let me tell you, you have never experienced a mental discombobulation stutter-step as when you hear a bulky stallion draft pony sing about "What my Cutie Mark is telling me!" in a deep basso profundo that would make James Earl Jones green with envy.
Speaking of green with envy, I certainly was a bit jealous of all the Equestrians and their cheerful, laid-back work environment. We never had fun spontaneous musical numbers to speak of at Home Depot... Though come to think of it Song of the Volga Boatmen would be rather apropos...
* ding-a-ling*
I was broken out of my reverie by the the entrance bell ringing as someone entered the drug store.
"Dude!"
I looked up. It was Jesse, one of my former coworkers at Home Depot.
He immediately spotted me by the window and walked up.
"Dude! Where did you disappear off to? Me and Ron were worried about you after he said he watched you leave with some minotaur cow lady."
I shrugged my shoulders. "It was no big deal. I was tired of working for Mark anyways."
"Dude! No big deal? Did you forget your Greek Mythology classes with Mrs Huddleson? Minotaurs eat people! And not the sexy fun kind of eat on SpankHubTube! The 'fava beans and a nice chianti' kind! What did yous guys do over the weekend?!"
I tried to wave him off. "This and that... Stuff."
" 'Stuff'? Dude, you do not up and quit your job and ride off with a USDA Prime A cow-mamma for 'stuff'!"
I saw that he would continue to pester me and not leave me in peace to watch the Shaper Ballet in contemplative peace. "Fine! Do you really want to know? We rutted! Hot, sticky, steamy, wild monkey sex all weekend long!
"We did things that would make your toes curl, things they do not have names for and would get you banned from 3 major religions and 6 minor ones. They will have to invent new similes for this level of exuberant rutting! We made rabbits look inadequate!
"It was so passionate the neighbours smoked a cigarette when we were done. We ploughed each other so vigorously, so thoroughly, I am surprised we can see straight, let alone walk! By the end she was mooing and calling me 'Daddy'!
"IT. WAS. AWESOME!"
"... Dude. Really?"
"Nah, I helped her pour a foundation and then we played Halo on her Xbox Classic."
I am immensely curious what Discord server this got mentioned on. Also kinda scared to find out, unless it was Estee's Terrors of the New Column, in which case I totally get it.
it starts off with a Minotaur cow shopping for construction supplies in Home Depot, and fantasy slice of life scenes are like catnip to me so I had to create a picture of Ivy lugging around the bags of cement to the checkout line while on her phone.
That's so amazing
* One wild, rumpus filled weekend later... *
...
"Nah, I helped her pour a foundation and then we played Halo on her Xbox Classic."
"Bruh"
Funnily enough, chapter 5 is titled Foundation, and if you guessed he's helping her pour a foundation, you'd be correct. Mostly digging the holes for the concrete, since Ivy figures there's less chance of him fucking up a hole than a batch of concrete.
Also because she knows damn well he's not going to last until noon if he's hauling all the bags of Quickrete and all the jugs of water to mix it with (her cabin doesn't have electricity or running water).
Also I've just got to say, I am one hundred percent onboard with the idea of Shakes and Shapers, and I think you should expand that into a full story for the Not-A-Contest because it's a totally nonsensical juxtaposition which makes it even more pony-like.
EDIT: also also also many apologies for taking three weeks to reply.
And awaaaaaay we go!
Who is Captain Courageous?
11695997
11695998
It's a reference to a coming-of-age novel by Rudyard Kipling, about a character who finds himself out his element [a rich boater who gets lost at sea and rescued by a fishing boat who isn't going to risk their catch taking some guy back to port], It's good reading
The return of Ivy! Hurray! n_n
Great chapter and I can't wait until more come out 😎
Yknow, something about this Badmiral Biscuit fellow seems familiar.
Well, this has promise.
… wait. She’s going to have him spend the whole weekend pouring a foundation, isn’t she?
11696023
Yes indeed! In case you didn't guess by context, it is a different 'I' in this story.
11696059
It'll be posted weekly (ish), don't know what day yet.
11696630
I don't know why you'd think that, he's got a bag over his
headear which is a good disguise, right?Right?
11697109
Are you suggesting that Ivy might have lured the narrator up to her cabin for the purpose of having him pour foundations?
You won't trick me into giving you spoilers, but I will say that she knows she can use her feminine wiles to get foundations poured.
11697758
Hahaha, you mean Ivy *doesn't* have amnesia and the farrier doesn't moonlight at home Depot? ;)
11698378
I suppose it's fairly obvious they're not the same person, but sometimes it does get confusing when there's an identical main character but told from the perspective of different first-person narrators.
Also other amusing facts: this is the third iteration of a home depot fic I wrote (the first was a HiE, and then I thought 'wouldn't it be better if . . .' and here we are now.
Operation Ivy was written after this was started, but before it was completed.
11699001
I don't think it hutrs to mention it anyway, just in case someone hadn't realized. If you hadn't read Operation Ivy for a while you might've forgotten the details.
And neat! Why did you publish Operation before this one?
11699017
Mostly 'cause I'd been watching YouTube videos of fixing/trimming cow hooves, and thought that writing a fic about that would be a fun idea. This one wasn't done yet, and I decided not to wait before publishing.
Over on my main on FimFic, there's a number of stories where a spinoff got published before the original fic (if the original fic ever got published), pretty much for the same reason. Like Spring Weather is a spinoff of an unfinished story on Offprint using a character from a then-unpublished chapter of Como Salsa Por Los Tacos.
11700185
*nodnods* Gotcha!
This story is definitely not my cuppa, but someone on Discord mentioned that it starts off with a Minotaur cow shopping for construction supplies in Home Depot, and fantasy slice of life scenes are like catnip to me so I had to create a picture of Ivy lugging around the bags of cement to the checkout line while on her phone.
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1142023419790106684/1154705989946327170/02131654592155c2c85fc8974de1bd148902f603a98b29fab2ba1f2eced5e280.png?ex=6515eb81&is=65149a01&hm=539ced588061b8ee58ceac3c35a459197716d7bc46761926992b9124f42f02dc&
(She is a highland cow and has freckles because those are adorable and I will fight and die on this hill)
11696630
I know, right? Pretty sure it is alt of someone I do not quite recall... Commodore Cookie I think?
11697109
* One wild, rumpus filled weekend later... *
I sat on a bar stool eating my tangy green sorrel malted milkshake and watching the machinist ponies work on the other side of the observation window. This was Shakes and Shapers, an honest-to-goodness combination of 1950's drugstore soda fountain and machining job shop. It sounded like such a bizarre setup that had no right existing, but Ivy assured me such things were very common back in Equestria.
It is true what they say: "Three things you can watch forever: fire burning, water falling, and another man working". While there was nothing on fire or flooding here, the large observation window between the two shops provided plenty of the last. The worker ponies (and gryphon) certainly did not mind all the attention and would occasionally smile and wave back to all us drugstore patrons watching them.
There was something hypnotising about watching the shapers on the production floor move back and forth, back and forth in unison. The hypnotic effect was further enhanced by all the intricate decorations on the machines. Equestrians had a very strong aesthetic sense and so every piece was damascened with intricate heart and flower motifs. They were shiny and gleaming and could have served as centrefold promotional material for any of their respective companies' marketing material. The effect was a bit diminished by all the large googly eyes they stuck on everything though.
Currently all the machinists were doing some sort of cheerfully happy song and dance routine carefully choreographed to the movement of the shapers. Let me tell you, you have never experienced a mental discombobulation stutter-step as when you hear a bulky stallion draft pony sing about "What my Cutie Mark is telling me!" in a deep basso profundo that would make James Earl Jones green with envy.
Speaking of green with envy, I certainly was a bit jealous of all the Equestrians and their cheerful, laid-back work environment. We never had fun spontaneous musical numbers to speak of at Home Depot... Though come to think of it Song of the Volga Boatmen would be rather apropos...
* ding-a-ling*
I was broken out of my reverie by the the entrance bell ringing as someone entered the drug store.
"Dude!"
I looked up. It was Jesse, one of my former coworkers at Home Depot.
He immediately spotted me by the window and walked up.
"Dude! Where did you disappear off to? Me and Ron were worried about you after he said he watched you leave with some minotaur cow lady."
I shrugged my shoulders. "It was no big deal. I was tired of working for Mark anyways."
"Dude! No big deal? Did you forget your Greek Mythology classes with Mrs Huddleson? Minotaurs eat people! And not the sexy fun kind of eat on SpankHubTube! The 'fava beans and a nice chianti' kind! What did yous guys do over the weekend?!"
I tried to wave him off. "This and that... Stuff."
" 'Stuff'? Dude, you do not up and quit your job and ride off with a USDA Prime A cow-mamma for 'stuff'!"
I saw that he would continue to pester me and not leave me in peace to watch the Shaper Ballet in contemplative peace. "Fine! Do you really want to know? We rutted! Hot, sticky, steamy, wild monkey sex all weekend long!
"We did things that would make your toes curl, things they do not have names for and would get you banned from 3 major religions and 6 minor ones. They will have to invent new similes for this level of exuberant rutting! We made rabbits look inadequate!
"It was so passionate the neighbours smoked a cigarette when we were done. We ploughed each other so vigorously, so thoroughly, I am surprised we can see straight, let alone walk! By the end she was mooing and calling me 'Daddy'!
"IT. WAS. AWESOME!"
"... Dude. Really?"
"Nah, I helped her pour a foundation and then we played Halo on her Xbox Classic."
"Bruh"
11707546
I am immensely curious what Discord server this got mentioned on. Also kinda scared to find out, unless it was Estee's Terrors of the New Column, in which case I totally get it.
That's so amazing
Funnily enough, chapter 5 is titled Foundation, and if you guessed he's helping her pour a foundation, you'd be correct. Mostly digging the holes for the concrete, since Ivy figures there's less chance of him fucking up a hole than a batch of concrete.
Also because she knows damn well he's not going to last until noon if he's hauling all the bags of Quickrete and all the jugs of water to mix it with (her cabin doesn't have electricity or running water).
Also I've just got to say, I am one hundred percent onboard with the idea of Shakes and Shapers, and I think you should expand that into a full story for the Not-A-Contest because it's a totally nonsensical juxtaposition which makes it even more pony-like.
EDIT: also also also many apologies for taking three weeks to reply.