//------------------------------// // Necessary Clarifications // Story: My Little Caboose: Blue is Magic! // by DarkWing //------------------------------// Delta trotted out of the farmhouse and breathed deeply through his nose, trying to get more out of his senses. He turned his attention to the sight of the dark orange sun nearly disappear off of the horizon. After a few seconds of admiring the view, he walked to the side of the farmhouse and stopped by a row of bright yellow flowers that had recently bloomed. He smelled the flower deeply, smiling at the smell of it. He let out a sigh and watched as he noticed noticed a cool gray mist come out of his mouth. "He's the smart one?" Scootaloo asked, looking Delta over curiously from behind one of the trees near the barn. "Looks sorta stran-" "Ah'd recommend not sayin' that." Applebloom chuckled as she put her hoof over Scootaloo's mouth. "He sorta has a way of pickin' apart what ya say." "Is he smarter than Simmons?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Ah think so." Applebloom said slowly. "Haven't talked to him enough t' know for sure, but he looks to be smarter than anypony ever." "He can't be the smartest pony ever." Scootaloo chortled. "Why not?" "Well look at him. If he was the smartest pony ever, what would he be doing here?" "What's wrong with here?" Applebloom asked in a slightly agitated way. "You know what I mean." Scootaloo rolled her eyes, then motioned her hoof at Delta, who was now examining a wilted flower, holding it up, trying to find out how it became unhealthy. "lf he was so smart, why isn't he up in Canterlot or any other place where he would do the most good? A farm isn't a place for a pony like that!" "Well go up an' ask him anything!" Applebloom said testily, tired of being told she was wrong. "Fine." Scootaloo huffed. "I'm waiting." Applebloom laughed, tapping her hoof impatiently. "I'm going!" Scootaloo said loudly, then looked around curiously. "What's wrong?" "Where'd Sweetie Belle go?" Scootaloo asked. The pair snapped their heads to look at Delta. They saw Sweetie Belle trotting towards him with a stern expression on her face. Sweetie Belle paused behind Delta, not sure about how she wanted to greet him. She shrugged and slowly walked up to his side and began staring at the flower he was examining. She instantly saw that there was a hummingbird feeding out of it, wings virtually noticeable. "Remarkable, isn't it?" Delta mused as the hummingbird darted away after having it's fill. "It's wings flap nearly fifteen hundred times per minute. Even young hummingbirds can flap their wings nearly thirteen hundred times per second. Did you know that?" "Uh, no, I didn't." Sweetie Belle said, caught off guard by his question. She shook her head to gain back her senses and smile at Delta, sticking out her hoof instinctively. "I don't think we really got the chance to greet each other. I'm-" "Sweetie Belle." Delta nodded. "Yes, I know. I've been told a bit about you." "You have?" "Yes. And it is to my understanding that you are currently residing with your sister, Rarity, correct?" "Yup." Delta smiled at her then turned his attention back to the flower, trying to see how much the hummingbird had taken before flying away. She was wondering if he really was smart, or if he just new a lot of interesting things, giving the impression that he was big brained. "I am in a way the embodiment of logic." Delta said thoughtfully. "Though I am only the logic of one artificial intelligence, I am logic nonetheless. So yes, I would like to think that I am, as I believe you put it, big brained." "Yup." Sweetie Belle nodded at the girls. "He's strange." "I certainly hope that this does not become a reoccurring phrase when I meet the inhabitants of this world." Delta said quietly, straightening his pose as the two other fillies approached him. "Heya." Applebloom smiled warmly at Delta, who smiled awkwardly in return. "Hello Applebloom." Delta nodded curtly, turning his attention to the small pegasus. "I'm-" "I would just like to say I am pleased to make your acquaintance Scootaloo." "What's your-" "I received my cutie mark while I was in the Everfree forest." Delta replied simply. "You did?" Sweetie Belle piped nervously. "I told you we could have gotten our cutie marks in the forest." Scootaloo grunted. "What did you get it for?" Sweetie Belle asked, ignoring Scootaloo. "You know Zecora, correct?" Delta asked, to which the girls nodded in unison. "I was escorting her through the forest, finding plants and the like for her potions and herbal remedies, when we got attacked by a group of timberwolves. Using minor calculations involving degrees and speed, as well as near perfect guesstimates, I was able to correctly fend them off using my brain rather than blindly rushing in the battle like some others would do." "Uh-huh." Applebloom nodded slowly. "Ya know, that's a real cool story an' all, but- quick! What's eighteen times seve-" "One hundred and twenty-six." "Dang it." Applebloom stomped on the ground, smiling playfully at Delta. "I'll get you eventually." "You most likely will not." Delta disagreed. "Will too!" "Were you watching me this entire time thinking of ways you could fool me?" Delta inquired. "What? No! Ah was just-" "Watching me for another reason." Delta finished. "That's a poor answer." "Are you sure he isn't a mind reader?" Scootaloo asked seriously. "Since you most likely wouldn't understand - I'm not saying that because I believe you aren't smart." Delta confirmed when Scootaloo opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind. "I will just leave it at it is just it would take you a long time to understand ratios and the like to figure out what someone is going to say before they say it." Delta fell silent for a brief moment, reading slightly more into their mindsets. "Perhaps you were watching me because you wanted me to help you with your cutie marks?" The girls looked at each other and smirked. He was as smart as Applebloom had said. Just the sort of pony they were looking for. "I apologize, but I can not help you obtain your marks." Delta said humbly, bowing his head. "But Simmons already did a lot of th' work!" Applebloom whined. "Ya just have t' make the list a bit smaller. He made a big one ya know." "It is to my understanding that Cutie Marks in this culture are a sign of reaching a certain level of maturity. By finding your mark, you find out who you are as a pony and what your place in the world is. It would not be morally correct for me to take that right away from you. It is something you must do on your own or, as you girls are currently doing, with your friends. Simmons has already done a great favor for you, but I believe that I would most likely not have much to add to the list, and since organizing is as far as I would go to help you to achieve your goal, I am afraid I cannot do anything for you." "But-" "There is no use arguing." Delta coughed. "I am sure that there is nothing you could say that would convince me otherwise." "Alright." Applebloom said dejectedly. "Please do not feel disappointed." Delta sighed, shaking his head at her. "You must understand that I wish to help you, but I just believe it will be much more gratifying if you find it together, as you started." "Well that's enough time wasted, let's go look at the next thing on the list!" Sweetie Belle chimed. "Cutie Mark Crusaders, go!" The girls yelled together, sprinting off into the orchard to go to their headquarters. Delta shrugged and turned around to go back to the barn. He stopped when he saw Applejack staring at him from the doorway. Having been there the entire time, she was smiling at him. Probably more warmly than she ever had at one of the fragments. She nodded appreciatively at him and walked into the farmhouse. Delta stared back at the flower and smiled, then trotted back into the farmhouse to explain how fast the average flower regained it's nectar.