3. Neighbors
The One Who Got Away
Neighbors
“To this the goddess: It is yours, O Princess, to will
The work which duty binds me to fulfill.
These watery kingdoms, and this modest ship,
Are all the presents of your bounteous gift.”
—Virgill, The Aeneid
Morning in Canterlot dawned fairly quietly, with only the singing of the birds and the distant noises of the servants going about their early tasks.
Castle Paradise was not Canterlot.
There had seemingly been a contest between the katydids and the crickets on the land and the bullfrogs on the water last night, with the occasional interruption by airborne owls and some horrid bird who made a booming ‘wwwhhhooooommmmm’ noise as it dove out of the sky. Gaberdine had spent half of the night with his pillow over his head and the other half flipping through his new library to see if perhaps there was a silence spell hidden anywhere.
There wasn’t.
And to make things worse, the bedroom of his new ‘castle’ was on the east side, with a large segmented window like the workroom and only very thin curtains. Celestia’s morning sun burned into the room with the intensity that only the direct and personal attention of the Princess of the Sun could possibly explain, and rather than attempt to shove towels over the window, Gaberdine dragged himself out of the sinfully soft bed and went to take his shower.
It was a nice shower in the bathtub, with a detachable showerhead and plenty of space for his lilac scented soap and mane conditioner, and a very proper hook for his back brush. It was a little dusty, but he used one of the old towels to clean off the worst of it while considering if it would be possible to hire a live-in maid for the creaky old ship, or if that would eliminate his guest room. Hanging his tie on the clothes rack, he stepped over the edge of the tub into the shower, closed the curtain, and turned on the water.
Or at least turned on the water faucet.
Several enthusiastic twists of both the hot and cold faucet got exactly the same results: dry squeaking noises.
“Sen!” he bellowed. “Where’s the water?”
“Out in the river,” came the thready reply from downstairs. “Without the main boiler running, we don’t got no pressure t’ run the condenser or the purification system, so I’ve just been bathing in a little hollow just behind the sidewheel. If’n you’re embarrassed about being seen by the seaponies, I could heat you up some water on the stove, if you want, sir.”
* * *
Some time later, a somewhat rumpled and slightly greasy Baron of Fen trudged into the kitchen/galley/office/workroom on the darker side of the ship where his eyes would not hurt so much. It was small, cramped, and low-ceilinged, but it was neat as could be and cleaner than he had expected. There was even an aged icebox with one of the modern filtering pitchers for cold water and quite a few oranges. By the thumping and clanging noise downstairs, Sen was still wrestling with the disassembled steam engine, but there was a speaking tube in the kitchen so Gaberdine used it to call.
“Sen, I can’t find anything for breakfast other than oranges. Where’s the coffee?”
“Been meaning to go pick some up, sir,” filtered up a weak voice from the tube. “Let me put away the tools and I’ll trot on over to town for some groceries.”
“Go ahead and pick me up a train ticket for Canterlot while you’re there,” said Gaberdine, opening up the icebox door and floating out a fat orange. “There’s really nothing left for me to do here.”
“There’s no train station in Gravel Flats, sir,” said Sen. “Nearest one is in Maple Junction, about a half-day’s trot from here. If’n I left right now, I probably wouldn’t get back until dark. Unless you want to hitch a ride on one of the barges going upriver, but there’s no tellin’ where they’ll make port.”
As much as Gaberdine wanted to object, the pegasus carriage had flown over the small nearby town on his arrival and to his best recollection, there had not been any train tracks visible. Trudging upriver on a fat barge slower than walking speed had little appeal to him, and walking back to Canterlot would take a few days. Although he had enough bits in his traveling money for a hotel room to freshen up before the triumphant return of Baron Gaberdine, it would be far more to his liking to move ‘Castle Paradise’ to a discreet mooring in Baltimare where a proper restoration specialist could bring it back up to original condition while he returned home with tales of his adventures.
And as much as he was reluctant to admit it, adventures which only warranted an overnight trip would not be very adventurous in conversation.
“On second thought, Sen, just get some groceries and I’ll work on the engine while you’re gone.”
“Are you sure, sir?” The speaking tube took a lot of the emotion out of a voice, but Gaberdine felt fairly certain that his new seneschal had just rolled his eyes at the concept of his prim and proper new baron getting his hooves greasy.
“Quite certain, Sen. It’s just a steam engine. How hard can it be?”
* * *
“How hard can it be?” muttered Gaberdine, sticking yet another colorful note into the thick maintenance manual of the ‘Steam Engine, Reciprocating - Model 57V with Triple-Action Pistons and Regenerative Steam Recapture’ before sitting it down on the wooden deck of the ship and heaving a sigh. He had walked down into the engineering space once Sen had left on his grocery run, but after one look at the maze of plumbing and fixtures, he had scooped up the manual and settled down for a serious read above decks. At least only the condenser was disassembled; if the whole engine had been in pieces, Sen would have returned to find an empty castle and a short note.
Gone to Canterlot. Good luck.
Instead, he positioned himself on the sun-warmed boards of the deck next to the water and plopped the dirty tome of steam engine knowledge down in front of him. It was merely a matter of organization, a task for which he had considerable talent, but the longer he read in the book, the more intrigued he became, even to the point of pulling several other technical books out of the castle library to compare. The little whistling steam engine that drove his toy steamship had some distinct relatives in the three-pistoned beast who lived in the bowels of the flat-bottomed ship and hungered for a mixed diet of rock oil or coal, depending on which was the least expensive to heat the boiler. Perhaps the ship could be called a second cousin twice removed, although the rather nasty burn he had gotten on one fetlock when his toy steamship had vented unexpectedly itched whenever Gaberdine found one of the sections written in large red letters that described just what happened to inattentive ponies who did stupid things like tying down the steam relief valve. There were at least three failsafe spells protecting the boiler, and the makers of the steam engine had bragged that none of their models had ever failed explosively ‘under normal operating conditions,’ which really did not comfort him very much, as an explosion could easily be counted as an extraordinary condition.
A series of quiet quacks from over the rail distracted him from the intricacies of the steam-water cycle, and he spared a look at a small family of ducks who had just paddled by. There was one somewhat mottled brown duck and three fledglings, all pinfeathers and beaks as they splashed and dove for breakfast. They reminded him of Canterlot and the overstuffed spoiled waterfowl who owned the small mountain lakes and streams, quacking and waddling right up to any pony who was foolish enough to feed them. With only a few orange peels to spare, he was fairly safe from being mobbed for duck food, so he returned to his studying with the splashing and quacking in the comforting background. The sun was warm on his back, and the noises of the river cove actually relaxing after the long night of sleeplessness, so with a yawn and a feeling of guilt, he slipped a bookmark into the Chapter Seven - Proper Lubrication section and laid his head down for just a moment.
* * *
It was the noise of pages being quietly flipped that woke him, a gentle crinkling of the page overlaid with a quiet humming. His first groggy thought was that Sen had returned and was referencing a section of the book for his repairs, but the voice that was carrying a childhood tune was far too high and sweet for that.
He opened one eye just a crack. The steam engine maintenance manual he had been using for a pillow in the warm sunshine had been joined by a rather colorful book titled ‘Quackers Goes To The Fair,’ which was hovering a short distance away in a soft green aura. A page turned, and the young voice he had heard before said, “And then Quackers realized that he was all alone, and had wandered away from his mommy. Oh, hello there. My name is Ripple. Are you one of Mister Baron Miller’s relatives?”
Gaberdine opened both eyes and yawned, looking at a young unicorn filly who had just barely gotten her head over the edge of the ship by tucking it under the rail. Her dark violet mane was still damp, most probably from swimming around in the lagoon, and she had a little sprig of waterweed tucked behind one ear, but most of her yellowish-green coat had dried already. Both eager young eyes sparkled with that overly-energetic wakefulness that the freshly-risen despised to the bottomless depths of a coffee cup, and her bright and cheerful smile only added to Gaberdine’s grouchy morning nature.
“No, I’m Mister… I mean Baron Gaberdine. What’re you doin’ on my boat?” he grumbled with a yawn.
“Mister Baron Miller always called it a castle,” said the little filly with a splash from her hind legs, most probably still in the dirty river water. “He used to read to me. B’fore he went to the Heavenly Pastures, that is. Since then, only Mister Sen will read to me, and he doesn’t make the funny faces and quacky noises like Mister Miller.”
Grunting again as he stirred stiff limbs from their positions against the unyielding wooden deck, Gaberdine reopened the maintenance manual and tried to look busy. “I’m sorry about Mister Miller, but I really don’t have time to read to you because I’m trying to get the boat… I mean ship ready to go to Baltimare.”
The little filly sucked in a breath of amazement. “Is Baltimare bigger than Gravel Flats?”
“Lots bigger,” said Gaberdine, trying to ignore the little filly and puzzle out the differences between the four types of lubrication the engine needed.
“If you take the castle to Baltimare, who will read to me?” she asked, making a few more splashing noises with her hindquarters in the water.
“I don’t care,” he snapped. “I just want to get the engine fixed so I can get out of here. Now shoo!”
There was a loud plop from the river as the little filly vanished, which Gaberdine considered to be a good thing until he realized there was no more splashing. “Kid?” he asked, peering over the edge of the ship into the shadows stretching across the lagoon. “Kid!”
The lack of ripples in the lagoon made his heart hammer as he considered just how young the little unicorn filly looked and how quickly a foal could drown in even a shallow bathtub. With a flash of his magic to toss his tie back onto the deck and a second flash to cast a water breathing spell, Baron Gaberdine stopped at the edge of the ship and bent his knees in preparation to jump into his watery barony.
Right as the little filly surfaced in front of him.
“Hello, Mister. Are you wanting to come swimming with me and Podunk?”
“Podunk?” Sitting down on the deck rather quickly to hide the trembling in his legs, Gaberdine swallowed. “Is Podunk your father?”
“No, silly. Podunk is a colt duck, just like Mister Quackers, only he doesn’t talk.” The little filly swam in a circle, quacking like a duck, then tossed her head back to get a strand of wet mane out of her eyes. “Come on in. The water is nice and cool.”
“And dirty,” said Gaberdine. “Look, I’ll read your book if you will go away afterwards.” After a moment to think, he added, “Aren’t your parents worried about you swimming around the lagoon all by yourself?”
“Mommy’s at work,” said the little filly, swimming in a small circle, “and Daddy was killed in the war back when I was born.”
“Oh.” Feeling like an idiot, Gaberdine looked down at the deck of the ship. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay,” she replied. “I never knew him. Mommy brought me here when I was really little, and Baron Mister Miller was really nice to us. He showed me how to use my magic to eat oranges.”
“Oranges?” Gaberdine looked over towards the river at the same time the little filly popped her head up above the edge of the deck.
“They’re yummy!” she declared with great enthusiasm. “Baron Mister Miller says they’re full of vittymins and minnows.”
“Minerals,” he corrected. “Look, if I read your book and give you an orange, will you go away without scaring me half to death?”
* * *
Five minutes later after a short story about Quackers and his favorite ball, he found himself sitting on the deck, watching the little greenish-yellow unicorn peel an orange with intense focus and an intriguing ongoing commentary that led him to follow along with his own orange. It took a lot more concentration than he was willing to admit to use his magic to spiral off the orange peel in a perfect line, but after a few false starts and a suppressed swear word or two, he was making a fairly good attempt at it.
At least until a musical voice in the distance shouted, “Ripple! Where are you?”
“Whoops, that’s my mother,” said Ripple, picking up her half-peeled orange in her green magic and holding it over her head. “I gotta go. See you later, Mister Gaberdine.” There was a splash and the little filly swam away, visible only by the orange she was holding above the water as she swam.
Gaberdine chuckled despite himself, settling back down with the engine manual while peeling the last of the orange. It was a warm feeling of happiness, most probably boosted by a stomach full of oranges, but it came back to him repeatedly over the afternoon as he studied and worked on the balky steam condenser, and every time the feeling struck, a small smile crept onto his face.
That smile lasted until late into the evening as he sat in the workroom with Sen, finishing off a late dinner while they cleaned scale from brass fittings and talked. When the old earth pony shuffled off for bed, Gaberdine got up to return to his Baronial Bedchambers and paused. Returning to the table, he got out a piece of Celestia’s dragonfire-imbued paper and wrote one quick note, igniting it with his magic before heading to bed with a smile.
Barony of Fen
Official Census (Revised)Permanent Resident(s)
One (1) crazy old earth pony named Sen, currently residing on a broken houseboat.Transient Resident(s)
One (1) young unicorn filly named Ripple who swims in the lagoon.By your command,
Baron Gaberdine of Fen
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Hello, Ripple.
Well he's prompt with his census, that's for sure.
Ripple is now a unicorn sea pony? 0-0 Or one of your OCs? Or can she shape shift?
I feel the aura of Sir Hat here. Is this story going to describe it's characters? Is it going to introduce them properly with the fundamental rules of writing on it's side? Questions, before I dive in.
The Answer: No. I still have no idea who Gaberdine is aside from him being a third son. I have no idea what he looks like, or even the description of the other characters so far. It's a blank what any of the characters look like and unless you already knew the characters in question, you have no premise on them. Going in, the first chapter does explain the location, which is good, and several of the explanations of the 'whys' of the characters...but that's it. It's a very grey field so far, and though my immediate interest is peaked, I have no idea whether or not it should remain so.
***
The second chapter immediately mentions various technologies which it seems to have no rush in explaining. It's rather vexing, when the author could have just said, "I travel by boat", or thereabouts in at least one paragraph. The second paragraph is a needless flavor one that could be simplified to where the information could be told without going into eccentrics, it's so needlessly specific. I got heavily distracted by the punchline, which I have to say I enjoyed, but it's not nearly enough so far...maybe a little more.
***
The third chapter finally reveals the difficulty of the protagonist's plight, however, it was spoiled for at least a chapter ahead of time. It does do a good job of arranging a disbelieving-of-a-fishwife's-tale sense of the protagonist...but it's lacking in something, that being direct notice of such. As such, it creates a rather callous seeming person. The third chapter highlights a noble's attitude, disinterested in everything but themselves, while the first two were seemingly more of a scribes.
It's all fine, but the whiplash is concerning. It's no bad per se, but it's not going to win awards, either.
***
Good luck with your story, Georg. It's pretty decent. I'll only be tracking it, however.
IkioStar
Awwww, I'm liking Ripple, she's adorableness wrapped up in pone fur.
Awesome job once more, you get a fave and I can't wait to see more of this soon.
Dem Sea Pone though~
I flinched at reading "Cover art by PhoenixSwift"
Anyways... AWESOME!
I've wanted to try my hand at making a steam engine for years.
Shouldn't Ripple's mom be included in the census? Otherwise interesting story so far.
Lovely :o) We are looking forward to the rest of it.
nice story so far you haz get like and track
I like what I see so far! Keep up the good word, Georg!
...Also, Ripple is adorable. XD
6371457
I also second the notion of Ripple's extreme Dawww inducing adorableness.
6373266
I do not think Gaberdine realises Ripple's mum is a seapony. He probably thinks that she was calling from East/West Fen on the riverbank. Come to think of it, Gaberdine never got a look at Ripple's aft half, so he probably thinks she is a regular filly (albeit highly aquatic and bloody way too ebullient in the morning).
...he should really take these rumours about seaponies more seriously
6373266
No.. he thinks she's a filly who comes and swims in 'his' river occasionally, hence why she's listed as "Transient" resident. As long as he doesn't see her mom swim in the river as well, she's not counted.
6372629 No, I only have... Um... Letters From a Little Princess Monster (ongoing), The Traveling Tutor and the Royal Exam (coming up on the end), This one (which is complete), and a couple of Whenever I Darned Well Feel Like Publishing A Chapter stories. I'm really behind, because I want to get Royal Exam finished up (Griffons and Discord and Weddings, Oh My) and still have some real-world time
6374723 They're very shy. Like Bigfoot. And Tax Rebates.
6372664 If sufficiently paranoid and built with enough engineering overkill, steam engines are fairly safe. The efficiency of them scales with size, though, much like diesel.
6371014 She can sure peel oranges. It is an odd cutie mark for a seapony, though. It would be as if an earth pony got a cutie mark in teaching young unicorns their first magic.
You know, it occurs to me that if Gabe is the right sort of mathematician or engineer (as evidenced by his budget balancing back in chapter one), that might just extend towards figuring out a steam engine. Might.
Ooo, and he's starting with the instructions, he's definitely my kind of engineer.
Okay, this filly is way too young for any appropriate shipping. Her mother?
Her mother. Also, that backstory somewhat kills my theory last chapter. I suppose there's still the question of who Ripple's grandparents are, but that's a stretch without more information.
6378130 Bah, instructions should only be referred to after you've made some guesses. Then you get to check if you're right or not!
Gaberdine seems like a bit stuffy and naive fellow, but he's got a good heart.
6375467
Hay! at least bigfoot might exist
6370953
He's a serial violator of Naismith's Initiative Precept: "Never give interim reports." Worst kind of subordinate: diligent and either stupid or foolish. Presumably foolish, else we wouldn't have a story...
6397149 Ah, a Lois McMaster Bujold reference. I love her stuff. Still, this is an exception to that rule. Think of it as a word problem. Princess Celestia gives Gabby six sheets of enchanted parchment for a due date that is six days away. How many days will go by without a report before Princess Celestia takes a little trip to the Barony of Fen to look over his shoulder?
Hm. Gaberdine may be a little obnoxious, but his willingness to get his hooves dirty already gives him a leg up over most other noble ponies.
-be doo, shoo shoo be doo.
6440116 NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! NOT AGAIN!!!!!!
And he never once looked over the deck to check if the filly had gills or webbed appendages.
6565331 You sound like you are in distress
Every time ripple is mentioned I keep on thinking of the Ripple from Fo:E Guise of chaos.
I think I made the voice of Ripple just SO ADORABLE in my head/ mind.
I just wanna stick a lollipop in the kids mouth and watch her play all day.
I feel that would be adventure enough for me.
#Ripple-is-best-seapony
FUCK KATYDIDS! Give me crickets or frogs or owls any day, but FUCKING HELL do Katydids drive me insane!
So, Princess Celestia has him write daily friendship reports?
What kind of bird is this referring to?
9275203 The Common Nighthawk. You just about jump out of your shoes when one of them 'whooooooms' overhead.