As Zaid strolled through the Noble Jury’s kitchen, he passed by Josho who was biting into an apple from the storage.
“Hey, uh, should you really be digging into the stock without the ship’s cook knowing about it?” the thinner stallion asked.
“Hrmmmf…” Josho gulped and muttered, “What Ebon doesn’t know won’t break his neck and toss his body into a river.”
“You know, I’ve met plenty a pony back in the day who found overeating to be a dull substitute for the bottle,” Zaid said with a wink.
Josho glared at him. “The Hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You lemme know after the five minutes it takes you to squeeze through the door to the mess.”
“No, I mean, who told you that I used to have a drinking problem?”
Zaid winced from one side of his jaw to the other. “Ev… ery… po… ny…?”
Josho sighed. “Go frolic off in goofland. You’re worse than the rest of them.”
“I’m sorely tempted to give this town a visit. But I dunno.” Zaid bit his lip. “I didn’t see no cow pastures on the way in.”
“And they say I have problems…”
“Face it, I’m like your guys’ second compass,” Zaid said with a smirk. “The other one helps Floydien and Pilate navigate the ship. And I’m here to keep you guys from turning stupid.”
“It’s working so far.”
“Hey! Cool!” Zaid blinked crookedly. “I think.”
Josho bit onto another apple. “So long as you don’t take craps in my bed, I can live with ya.”
“Nice head full of humor. Wanna go air it out?”
“Hmmm?”
Zaid gestured beyond the bulkheads of the kitchen compartment. “It looks like a nice place to visit. A pony like you could benefit from stretching his legs a little.”
“Ehhh… no thanks…” Josho fidgeted. “From what Rainbow Dash said, most of the ponies here are old fogies, even older and fogiers than I am. I’d rather not walk through a living preview of myself two decades from now.”
“What do you mean?” Zaid raised an eyebrow. “They all sound super happy.”
“Excuse me?”
Zaid smiled awkwardly. “I… think I’ll go check out Props now.”
“Yeah. Sure.” Josho glared at the retreating stallion warily. “That’s what all the young ponies seem to be doing these days…”
A minute later, there was a knock on the rear door to the engine compartment.
Props paused in fusing a pair of wires together. “Mareshi mareshi!” she chirped.
The door to the stairwell opened with a creak. Daylight wafted through from the cracked door to the hangar as Zaid slithered in. “Hey, girl that is a girl. How’s the engine that is an engine?”
“I’ve given it a rest for the day!” Props said, adjusting the goggles over her blue eyes. “I’m still at an impasse over how to cross the central manaconduit over into the steam array.”
“Oh, does that have anything to do with making us go zoom zoom?” Zaid paced around, brushing his tail absent-mindedly against random instruments and hanging objects. “Seems like Floydien’s getting all impatient for the zoom-zooms.”
“Handsome wants what he wants when he wants.”
Zaid squinted at the lavender book floating in its “cage.” “Then just how do you manage dealing with him?” he asked.
“Belly rubs.”
“Buh?” Zaid flashed her a look. “How do you avoid being impaled by his brain bones? You do notice they stick out everywhere, right?”
“Oh no no no no…” Props glanced up from the workbench. “Not his belly. His beloved’s belly!”
Zaid blinked. “What, did he rope in a reindeer while I wasn’t looking?”
Props giggled. “You really don’t pay attention, do you?” The bulkheads groaned as the ship got reaccustomed to being parked on solid earth. “Whoops! I’m behind in my quota!” Props leaned over from the stool and stroked a hoof all over the metal floor. “There there, Nancy. I know it’s super super weird, but we’ll be flying again once we take care of all this business with Kera!”
“Uhhh… yeah…” Zaid gulped. “So what do you think about that, anyway?”
“Oh, I think it’s lovely! I mean, if I was made of metal and I had a mare inside my womb, I’d want her massaging me too when I got lonely.”
“No, not that--Not that it isn’t a ferociously interesting conversation to be having--but I mean this whole situation with the kid.”
“Hmmmmmmm?” Props hmmmm’d.
“Seems like they’re shoving a lot into her earballs just by taking her here and forcing her to endure all this nostalgiabombing.” Zaid raised an eyebrow. “Belle and Pilate seem to be swell quadrupeds and all, but what’s got their legs all in a knot?”
Props shrugged as she worked on the communication device. “I dunno what you mean! They don’t seem to be ribboning their hooves any! Besides, they’re not pink!”
“I mean, do they wanna get rid of the kid or what?” Zaid shrugged. “She seems pretty happy with them. I mean, she hasn’t set fire to anything since I got here.”
“Lil itty bitty Kera never set fire to anything, period, silly!”
“Oh.” Zaid blinked. “I must have dreamed that.” He ran a hoof through his yellow-streaked mane. “That explains why she spat fire and road an elephant across the blood ocean.”
“Yeah, I get that in my sleep after eating too many eggs as well.”
“Wouldn’t it have been easier for them to have just chained an anchor to the kid’s leg and dropped her from the sky? She’s going to be kicking and screaming at some point or another.”
Props giggled and smiled warmly the stallion’s way. “Look at you, Mr. Stranger!”
“What?” Zaid winced. “Is my third nostril showing?”
“I think it’s cute, is all.” Props winked bulbously from behind her goggled lenses. “You really care for the filly, don’tcha?”
“Well… sure! There aren’t enough hells or yeah’s to properly pair up and affirm that. I mean, who doesn’t love the little scamp! She’s like an inside-out porcupine with those coat-stitches of hers. Also, how often do you come across a pony who can rock green hair? I mean, Lady Gallop eat your empty black heart out!”
“From what Kera said, you looked after her a lot when things got super-nasty with the Xonans and the Herald!” Props grinned. “You even saved her adoracute little hideacute once!”
Zaid blinked. “Huh… yeah. I did, didn’t I?” He smiled and leaned against a table of tools. “Funny how easy you forget things when you’re starved of cheese--” The table fell over with a clatter of metal. “Gaaah!” Thud!
“Whoopsy-cakes!” Props placed her tools down and crawled over to pick the tools up. “Guess I’m re-alphabetizing my sprockets again! You’re not hurt, are you?”
“Nnngh… only my skull…” Zaid sat up, shaking his head. “I’m think I understand why Rainbow Dash never chooses me for away missions.”
“What missions?”
“Well, what else would you call them?”
Props smirked and squatted across the floor from him. “I can’t imagine for the life of me why Belle and Pilate would wanna split ways from Killer Kera. She’s like their own little daughter! They’ve been through thick, thin, and moderately dense! It would be like shooting themselves in the hoof!”
“I just wanna know that the little tyke gets what she deserves, you know?” Zaid shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind having a place to call home, but I think I’d rather roll with ponies I could trust all the same, right?”
Props pulled her goggles up and said, “You know, Zapp--”
“Zaid.”
“I’m super, duper, uber to be on board this ship, Zapp.” Props smiled gently. “I’m getting to work on skystone, see new places, experience awesomesaucical adventures. And yet, I’m pretty sure--no, I know--that if I didn’t get a chance to see Gray Smoke, if even for a teeeeeeny tinnnnny bit of time, I’d be a super downer pony.”
“How could you say that?” Zaid’s brow furrowed. “You lost your shop and your Uncle Pratchett went up missing!”
“His name is Uncle Prowse!” Props pouted. “Pay attention, Zapp!” She cleared her throat. “And, yeah, that was pretty cray-cray, but at least I know I didn’t have a future there!”
“Huh…?”
“Here, with the Jury, I have opportunity! I have mobility! And, once I get the Super Experimental Long Distance Manacommunication Receiver 4000 working, I may even have my Uncle again!”
“So…” Zaid squinted. “You’re counting all of this as a gain?”
“It freaks me out to think how aimless I’d be if I didn’t get to swing by Gray Smoke first!” Props exclaimed, her eyes dramatically wide. “Reallllly freaks me!”
“Yeah, but, like, what if you had arrived at Gray Smoke and everything was all hunky-dory?” The stallion asked. “Wouldn’t you have stayed?”
“I…” Props bit her lip. She fidgeted, then fidgeted some more. “I don’t know. Being here--with these ponies--and making this trip? With this tech? It means a lot to me.”
“Yeah.” Zaid scratched his neck. “But… like… more than your Uncle Prowse?”
Props said nothing. She sat still for the first time in days--if not weeks--gazing in impermeable thought upon that.
For a conversation between Zaid and Props, that was a lot more comprehensible than I thought it'd be.
Terry Pratchett is secretly Props' uncle. Headcanon updated.
Think not on the lost chances, but rather on those to be gained.
I like how much more depth this chapter gives Zaid and Props. Reminds me that theyre not just there for comic relief.
Traveling east sounds exciting, and is full of adventure. Don't forget it comes at the cost of completely uprooting yourself from everything you've ever known, ever loved, and ever can love again. Sometimes you have to go because fate leaves you no choice, sometimes you go because you know where you come from just isn't a place worthy of having you, or maybe even existing at all. But you can't go without ever having known it, and you can't keep going when it's the better option, and let's be real here. Not going is usually the better option.
So when this journey presents you with an opportunity to start over, to get off, to complete it, you have to take it. You have to finish.
Don't forsake a family you've never known in favor of one you've copted, in one you've settled for. Loyalty is not a matter of sticking by someones side, it's about giving them your support. It's about being able to show them where true happiness might lie, and that short-term losses might someday lead to long-term gains. Kera can't keep going east when there's a whole big family right in front of her, an opportunity to flourish, and be happy, and safe. A chance to grow on her own with a support system that maybe knows her a little better than she might know herself. One that won't get chased down by a dragon every other month.
Comic relief and intelligent conversation can happen at the same time.
(After reading Pilate's comment) For me, this motley crew is particularly interesting because, essentially, the only reason they are here is because they are escaping their previous lives. They all contrast with Rainbow Dash, who is the only one with an end goal, even if it is practically impossible.
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Uncle Prowse Pratchett.
Yes yes, Zap. yes yes.
...How did Kera suddenly get in the room?
It seems that two negatives do make a positive.
It was a nice chapter in all, and I do feel for Props, it must be hard making a choice between what you have and what you used to have.
Or is it what you will have?
Huh. I'll leave the deep analysis to you, people.
Now to see what happens if my story-self has a long conversation with Floydien.
Oh, Props. You are so adorable.
And hot.
Is it just me, or do Props and Zaid sort of... keep each other in check? Sort of like destructive interference cancelling out two random, ridiculous waveforms.
There sure is a lot of wistfulness, nostalgia, and future-looking going on. I suppose that's life, even for Rainbow's companions, but all of it happening at once during a calm-before-the-presumed-storm period is making me twitchy.
...by absorbing it before anyone else can breathe it in?
This is why Props remains my favorite member on this ship. Unintentionally mentioning a child killer from a separate continent that she has not and probably will never see. How Pinkie of her.
Pay attention Zap == Q admonishing Bond.
Zap == Zap Brannigan, given Zaids increasing desire for cheese and the close proximity of a hopefully willing milk source.
Cray-Cray? Yup, that pressurised fluid cooling loop really needs to get working before those two cores boil it dry.
The Same Dream. Made for each other.
And now for someting completely different. Geoffrey the dancing fish.
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Duke Zaap Nator
What if there are no cows in Xona? What if Xonans don't even make cheese?
~Basso
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Okay, so I'm not the only one that thought Zaid got a new name-drop for a nickname
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I think, because of what you just said, I understand a bit better why I
likehave become engrossed in this entire epic story. I gave up my life; my family, my friends, a well-paying job with an alphabet agency... and all to follow someone whose goal seems to be "I'm going thataway." I'm not running away from anything like most of the characters are, but I can see some parallels I'd not thought of before.But to rebut: life is a journey. The old fogey who has never left his hometown is on no less of a journey than Kera, who's essentially never had a place to settle. Both journeys can be dangerous to the body or soul, and both can be quite rewarding. True, the Noble Jury is heading into a dangerous place, and will eventually reach the end of the world. But is there any less danger in Lerris? Both are unknowns. Shell (or any other Ledo affiliated bad guy) might show up at any time. Or the changelings. That might happen to the Noble Jury too. But on the ship... she'll be with Dash. And being with the one you've placed your faith in... that's enough, even if you don't know where you're going, or what's going to happen tomorrow.
Well, I'm out of philosophical juice for tonight. I'm going to go back to drawing, until I fall asleep.
Propsy, keepin' things light as a two-tonne dirigible, as always.
Count on her for some steampunky manapunk technobabble.
Does anyone else get the terrible feeling that Zaid has been replaced with a changeling?
For some reason, how he is described here and his forgetfulness makes me wonder...
But I could be crazy.
Never change, Zaid.
Or should I be calling him Duke Zaid now?
HA!
Even the Propsy has been slowed. These must truly be the end times.
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I like how these characters are really fleshed out. they are all really different but mesh so well together.
A nice little slow chapter before we get back to Kera and Lerris.
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. . . I can ship it.
3900239 Why are you so mean, Nevy?
Is it because you are dead, and thus can no longer know the goodness of the Cheese?
3899281 At least there's someone who wishes more than misery for my story-self.
It's one of those chapters. Especially with Zaid and Props in all room, of all people. We now know what happens when an unstoppable force hits an unstoppable force. "Zapp? Oh no, I only kill ladies."
data2.whicdn.com/images/62013390/large.gif
3900515 The funny thing is that you're still not getting anymore than me, despite the fact that I'm dead. How about we compromise?
Props + Zaid = argnarg
Mooo!
Zaid is a peculiar pony... He's a lot like me when it comes to being wise. Very sparse occasions with a goof attitude the rest of the time
Sometimes I understood everything that was being said here.
Other times I read it over and over and moved on when I decided I wasn't going to make sense of it.
Props x Zaid OTP
ZaidxPropsy. OTP.
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He's the compass that points south
Also, its probably because they completely understand each other's awkward way of saying things. They're speaking dialects of the same language.
It's writing like this that keeps me coming back.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Well, this conversation was far deeper and comprehensible than I would have thought, seeing as how it was between Zaid and Props. It makes you wonder...also, Uncle Prowse is going to be awesome when we get to him. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
Also this was way easier to understand than usual.
-Spirit
poor props...an impossible choice like that will even ground HER in thought...i pray i never have to make a choice like that in my life.
Hmm. When Zapp was mentioned, I thought about the member of the Power Ponies with that name.
Props and Zaid . . . having a coherent conversation with some legitimately emotional parts in it. That's pretty amazing, if I do say so myself.
That's the second time someone has used the word 'earballs'. First time I thought maybe it was supposed to be eyeballs, but that wouldn't fit here.
This is actually more sombre than funny now that Sir Terry has gone and left our world.
Zaid and Props together... I never woulda guess we would get some so comprehensible and IMPORTANT from their chattering. Wow...
Once more Zaid stumbles -literally- through a deep conversation.
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It's been more than a year since he passed?
It doesn't feel like it's been that long.
Dang.
I am totally going to use this from now on
What does Mareshi mean, actually? Google wasn't helpful, unless it is a horsepun version of something else.
8094161 It's a horsepun of "moshi moshi" which is how you answer the phone in japanese.
>Pratchett
Rest in Peace, author of the amazing Discworld series.