After much work—it felt like months, but Theo knew full well it couldn’t be—the Horizon was finally ready to sail.
Theo learned this news from Sharp after a hard day of work in the cabin, leaving with empty cans of finishing stuff and the scrap-metal left over from her electronics work.
“Hey, Summer.” He caught her wing with a hoof, which couldn’t put more than a tiny bit of pressure on the feathers. Still enough to slow her down, which was the real point. Then he seemed to actually notice her—at least enough to finally look. He frowned, looking her over and sniffing. “Is that… varnish?”
She nodded weakly, tucking the trash-bag behind her as best she could. But she hadn’t mastered the pony skill of using either wings or tail to hold things, and was using one of her claws, which weren’t as good at hiding things. She could only get it so far behind her, not nearly far enough to be unseen.
“You’ve got something…” He reached up with a cloth, wiping it away from her nose. A splotch of wood stain based on the smear it made on his cloth. And probably her face too.
Great, now that won’t be coming out for a while. Her ears flattened, and she looked away. “Thanks.”
“What were you doing in there?” Sharp pushed her gently aside, glancing up the stairs. “That door looks… different.”
“I had to sand it down,” she began. “I used a darker stain than you did. There are some differences in taste between Equestria and my world, but it really just saved money since nopony wanted the…” She trailed off, dropping her trash bag as he hurried past her up the stairs. Theo took one glance around the engine room, and found it no longer seemed like a mess. There was only the one engine in the center of the room, its casing all closed up and a straight shaft crossing to both sides of the ship. Presumably leading to the propellers outside.
She hurried after him, taking the steps two at a time. She moved so fast that she didn’t even realize he’d stopped in the doorway, and so she smacked into him as she climbed inside, wedging herself in the entryway. “Sorry, sorry! I didn’t—” But whatever else she might’ve said was silenced as he helped her to her feet, far more coordinated than she was. Sharp’s strong scent was mixed with engine grease and hot machines—inhaling it made her head get fuzzier than it already was.
“You’ve been working,” he said, gesturing around the cabin. “I didn’t know you could… do this.”
Theo lacked the skill to make everything in the cabin as perfect as when she’d found it. Her molding was slightly crooked, she couldn’t set the glass quite symmetrical—but she’d done her best. The signs of water-damage had been scrubbed away, replaced with as much of the furnishings of life as she could find or buy secondhand in Ponyville. Pots hung over the range, repaired chairs sat by one wall, and the floor was shiny finished wood. “Oh, don’t touch the walls yet. That one by the upper door is the last one I needed to stain. You can see it from the cloth…”
Sharp kissed her. The motion came so unexpectedly that she wasn’t sure what was happening. One minute she stared up at nothing, and the next—she was up against his face. That fuzzy feeling in her head hadn’t been the fumes at all. For a while, everything melted. She didn’t see anything, feel anything. Whatever voice might’ve urged her to flee or push him aside was silenced. Her old self, revolted, angry even—was so small she couldn’t even hear it.
But just because it felt like it went on forever, didn’t mean it did. After a few seconds she surfaced, but it was more like going under a pond than popping up from underneath. She smiled stupidly up at him, eyes a little glazed over. “W-what was… what was that, Sharp?”
He blushed, ears pressing flat to his head. “Something I… I’m sorry, Summer. I shouldn’t have. You’re not from here, I’m probably disgusting to you.”
She shook her head, yanking him by the hoof so he couldn’t leave. “I never said that.”
“I was going to say thanks, but…” Sharp was far stronger than she was, and she wouldn’t have been able to hold onto him with him trying to pull away. He advanced a few steps, inspecting the stove and twisting the burner. It came on with a click and a little circle.
“That’s, uh… that wasn’t as hard to fix as the rest of this. Just had to clean out the burner. It didn’t have enough time to rust yet.
“You shouldn’t have…” He sat down on his haunches, ears flat. “I didn’t think you were—”
“Pulling my weight?” she asked, following him. “You were taking me, Sharp, don’t think I forgot. All this is so I can go home. I don’t know how to fix engines, that’s true. I can barely build a USB-charger in your world. But I can sand a floor, I can paint furniture. Or I can now. Applejack had to walk me through most of this.”
“You did an excellent job,” he said, rising to his hooves again. “I was going to tell you that we were ready to go if you were okay with sleeping bags on the floor and eating dried oats. But looking around here, I can see that… won’t be necessary.”
“Nope. I hated roughing it last time. The Horizon was better. Shower works again too, by the way. There was only one cracked pipe to replace, probably from the crash. But I didn’t fix any of the aeronautics. Nothing that really matters.”
“We finished with all of that,” he answered absently. “Emerald and I. And now… well, I guess now we can stock her back up and get flying. For… Mt. Aris.”
“Not yet. We still have that offer from Feather, remember? And the CEO wants to meet with me. Manhattan.”
“Manehattan,” he repeated. But whatever his tone had been before, he no longer sounded overwhelmed. Now his voice was distant. “Alright. We should try and update our charts. We lost all the old ones in the crash. Going back to Canterlot probably wouldn’t be a good idea, after the… way we left last time.” He turned, wandering back down the steps.
Theo didn’t stop to wonder why Manehattan might be such a sore subject, or to try and stop him. None of that mattered—the ship was fixed! She was going home!
Or at least, the odds looked a little better. She still had the disturbing reaction of the hippogriff ambassador to worry about. She assumed he’d been paid off, or frightened into acting the way he had. Surely the hippogriffs themselves wouldn’t respond that way.
And if they do, there’s nothing I can do about it. Without their help, there’s no way to get back.
There might still be no way to get back. Kate had said the bridge was destroyed—that her entire quest was pointless, and she was stranded in Equestria forever. Would that be so bad?
Theo didn’t let herself keep thinking about it, not when it took her mind back to such strange and confusing things. She spent the next few days helping load the Horizon with food and supplies—Applejack’s family went above and beyond helming them there. They’d be eating apples for the next several weeks, but at least they’d be eating.
Eventually the day of their departure arrived. It wasn’t just Applejack and her family there to see them off—Rainbow Dash was there as well, along with her friends who had helped salvage the ship. They had a little party beside the barn, with refreshments provided by a pink pony whose name Theo had never learned.
One thing they didn’t do again over the next few days was talk about what Sharp had done. Theo thought about it every few hours, maybe more often. But she wasn’t brave enough to initiate anything else, and apparently neither was Sharp. Or maybe he was just giving her time to digest.
“Don’t be afraid to come back now,” Applejack said, as they pulled the loading ramp up into the engine bay and locked it into place. “Just try not to crash that thing. Ponyville don’t got anywhere to dock an airship, even a little one. Maybe… park it in Canterlot?”
Now the balloon loomed high overhead, expanding larger than the barn. The Horizon strained against its mooring ropes, but so far remained firmly anchored to the ground.
“We’ll visit if we can,” Sharp said. “It might not be for some time. We’re headed all the way down to Mt. Aris. Long trip.”
Emerald leaned over the railing from the top deck. “Ready on the helm, captain!”
“Hold it steady!” he ordered. “No throttle until we’re above every building in Ponyville.”
“Aye, captain!”
Applejack watched her with an amused expression. Behind them, the other ponies were already cleaning up the party, though plenty were waiting to watch their takeoff. “Say hello to Queen Novo for me, if you’re there! And Princess Skystar. Just tell her we sent you, that should really clear things up. We’re still a mite popular down there on account of shatterin’ the Storm King and all.”
“Will do!” Sharp said, far more enthusiastically than before. Theo made a note of that fact as well, even if part of her balked at the information. Applejack the farmer, do something more interesting than pick apples and sand floors?
But if there was one thing even harder to believe, it was that the farmpony might lie.
“Are you guys leaving or what?” Rainbow asked, hefting the oversized crowbar beside the mooring stake. “Aren’t you running out of gas or whatever?”
Sharp didn’t call back to her to explain any of it. Instead he nodded. “We need to pull out both of them at the same time, or we’ll tilt! Can you do that?”
“On it!” Rainbow yanked up the first stake without waiting for anypony else to be ready at the second. Sure enough, they started to tilt slowly upward, as only the stern rope was still holding them. Theo leaned forward, hastily pulling the door to engineering closed and latching it. At least this way they couldn’t dump out—unless they fell out through the massive opening under the engine.
Through that gap, she saw a streak dart across the lawn, then resolve into Rainbow Dash. She crossed the length of the Horizon in less than a second, and then she was pulling at the next stake. With one final lurch, the stern of the ship began to lift as well. They rocked in the air a few times, rising so fast that Theo smacked into Sharp again. Thankfully against the wall, instead of the engine railing. She didn’t much want to practice her gliding today.
“I notice this is a pattern from you,” Sharp said, not pushing her away. He reached up, brushing her mane out of her face with a delicate hoof. But he’d always had excellent control, despite how bulky and strong most earth ponies seem to be. “Were you this clumsy on your world?”
“No,” she answered, shoving away from him and rising to her claws indignantly. She puffed out her wings and stalked past him towards the stairs. “I’ll remember this if you come back to my world with me. I’d like to see you do better with two legs.”
“Dragons do it,” he answered, catching up in a matter of seconds. He was only a few steps behind her as they left the top doors and onto the main deck.
Here the Horizon had never been underwater, and so much of the original finishings were intact. Only the control-box had changed, with a new set of switches and levers. They said something about gear-ratios, and conveyed fuel information about their single engine.
“I think we’re overkill on lift,” Sharp said, stopping beside Emerald and glancing down at the controls. “I should’ve thought of that. The other engine had to weigh as much as five ponies.”
Theo heard the hiss of gas overhead as Sharp released some of their hydrogen, but she didn’t stay to watch him operate the Horizon. Instead she made her way to the railing, looking over at the crystal palace that was also a tree.
She hadn’t gone back since building her charger, and that was probably for the best. The purple pony had been too attentive. The more she knew about Theo, the more she would figure out.
The whole castle looked almost transparent from up here as it caught the light, a monument larger than most of the town it lorded over.
I’m going to miss this place, she realized, staring out over the village. It was such a primitive place, without even a single paved road to be seen. Yet in many ways, it reminded her of any number of old villages back home. It was the sort of place that looked like it had constant occupation since the middle ages, or maybe earlier.
More importantly, it had proved to her that even the little places could be kinder than Sleighsburg. Far from throwing her in the sea, these ponies had rallied to fix the airship, and helped her surprise Sharp a little on the side.
“Moment of truth time!” Sharp yelled from not far away, yanking a lever dramatically. There was a roar and a cough from down below, and a steady stream of smoke emerged from behind them.
Then they started to move. Not as fast as Theo remembered, but they did have one less engine. They drifted ahead, away from the distant mountain of Canterlot and over Ponyville.
They were still rising, but Theo was sure she could see ponies down below, pointing eagerly at their airship. She knew some of those faces.
This isn’t my world, she thought. I’m getting in too deep. It wasn’t just coming to love some of the places she visited—but the people. She couldn’t keep a relationship with Sharp, even if he did come back with her. Or she didn’t think she could.
Everything she’d thought she knew about her sexuality was a confusing mess right now, right along with her sex. Right when she thought she’d been getting used to it, he had to go and kiss her.
I’m going home. None of these people are going to stay in my life. Emerald isn’t coming back with me, and Sharp shouldn’t either. The real world would eat him alive.
At that moment, Emerald wormed her way up beside her, resting both forelegs on the railing. “Thinking of going flying out there?”
“No,” she said flatly. “We just got the Horizon back. I’m going to enjoy the accommodations.”
“Aww.” Emerald pawed at the ground. “You know you won’t get better without practicing.”
“I know,” she admitted. “But I’m not really trying to get better right now. Let’s focus on making it to Mt. Aris. Maybe after that...” There’s no point. You’re leaving, Theo. Stop thinking about this.
But she couldn’t. Even if she’d only glided now, the strange powers had worked for her. There was a whole world of new abilities open, abilities she could take. She’d seen dozens of ponies flying now, she could do it too.
“Maybe we can work on taking off,” she said. “From the ground. Not up here.”
Emerald beamed up at her in response. Theo looked behind her to the helm, expecting to find Sharp there—but there was no pony standing there.
She tensed, spinning around in a tight circle. “Wait, where’s Sharp?”
“Horsefeathers,” Emerald muttered. “I was… kinda supposed to distract you while he did something secret? Do you think you could maybe… pretend you didn’t notice? I think it would mean a lot to him.”
Summer turned reluctantly back to the railing. Ponyville had just about passed completely beneath them, leaving only the sprawling farms that surrounded the town. Beyond that, open forest. But they were still rising, and the details were harder to make out the further up they got. “I can pretend,” she whispered. “Why, though? Why would he want to do anything secret?”
“Because you did,” Emerald whispered back. “You fixed the Horizon without him noticing. He thinks you like surprises.”
“Some kinds,” she began, before she even realized what she was saying. But she stopped herself after that, before she could let anything slip about what had happened between them. Emerald hadn’t figured it out yet—or if she had, she was a better actor than any human child Theo had ever known.
“Speaking of surprises, there’s something I forgot to mention.” She reached into her saddlebags, removing the polaroid camera. “I charged the battery. We still have limited film, but… you can take plenty more pictures.”
“Good.” Emerald took the camera carefully, wrapping the strap around her neck and lifting it with one hoof like a delicate artifact. “I wasn’t happy about the Ponyville-sized hole in my scrapbook.”
“You’re keeping a—”
But she didn’t finish, because Sharp emerged from below at that moment, gesturing for her. “Hey, Summer! Could you come down here for a minute? Emerald, on the helm! Make sure we keep a northeast heading!”
“Right, captain!” she shouted back. “Northeast!”
No fair. You know how much she likes being useful.
Summer made her way over, pushing her mane back with a wing self-consciously. But Sharp had already gone down the stairs. The lights were out and only the glow from outside lit the space, but that was more than enough for her. Sharp’s night vision wasn’t nearly as good as hers.
He hadn’t done much—just a tablecloth, and some candles, and the makings of something hot. Her mouth watered at the smell, as she instantly recognized something she hadn’t tasted in almost as long as she could remember—that was meat.
Not a juicy steak, which she really craved. But fish—she could live with fish.
“I don’t like owing a pony for something…” he said, pulling out one of the chairs. For her. “I can’t believe I was so caught up repairing the engine, I didn’t notice what you were up to.”
Summer’s blush deepened, but she sat down anyway. You just got your airship back, the only thing of value you think you own, but the first thing you do with it is serve me this. Her brain was having difficulty processing it. But the longer she spent around this pony, the more often this was happening.
“Your ship only broke because of me,” she argued. It was either that, or drool out of her stupid beak. “Helping fix something you could’ve done better doesn’t mean you owe me.”
Sharp shrugged one shoulder, then opened the container that was producing the fantastic smell of cooked fish. Theo could see—if just for a moment—the look of disgust on his face as he lifted the carefully prepared plate from inside, removing the thin metal foil from on top of it. His own plate was something closer to what she’d seen ponies eating, a hay dish with little bits of fruit mixed in for texture.
“Your apprentice is okay with…” She glanced down at the plate, and found it harder to resist the longer she looked. Strangely, the plate was square, with portion dividers she might’ve expected from a municipal cafeteria. But even if she was only looking at a thin slab of—salmon, she guessed—in brown sauce, she could live with that. “You didn’t have to do this,” she said simply. “I can see you don’t like smelling it.”
Sharp shrugged again. “Then you better eat it, huh? Princess Twilight’s school has been serving it all this time, but I didn’t realize until it was time to go.”
Theo didn’t wait another second longer. She ignored the salad on one side of the plate, the sort of thing she had come to expect from horse cooking, and devoured the meat with characteristic vigor. She almost wasn’t even aware of the passage of time, until her plate was licked completely dry. I had no idea how badly I was craving that.
“That was… the most amazing thing I’ve ever eaten,” she said, sitting up in her chair. She looked down, realizing she’d spilled a little brown sauce, and licked that up too.
Sharp didn’t interrupt her, didn’t say anything that she heard until she’d finally settled down. He grinned, sipping casually at his glass. “If I’d known you needed it that badly, we could’ve gotten you meat sooner.”
That was about the time she started feeling self-conscious. She hadn’t exactly acted with the dignity she usually at least pretended to have.
“I… didn’t realize how much I missed it,” she said, settling back in her chair. “I didn’t even like fish much back home. But I have a feeling…” Applejack’s farm had kept cows for milk, cows that Applejack talked to. Having a conversation about the modern beef industry probably wasn’t a good idea. “Thanks,” she finished awkwardly, taking the glass in one claw and drinking slowly. It wasn’t wine like she’d thought, but something made with apples. Of course it would be apples.
It didn’t smell or taste like cider, though. So what was it? She resisted asking the question, just ignoring the little luxury. Some part of her had wondered if Equestria even had alcohol.
“Thanks,” she said, settling the empty glass down on the table in front of her. She probably shouldn’t ask for more, considering how little she actually understood about this body.
“It wasn’t much,” he said. “It’s a shame the town is so backwards in other ways, the ponies there are friendlier than several villages I’ve visited. That’s so often the trade—do you want ponies to know who you are, or do you want to like them?”
Summer glanced over her shoulder, towards the door leading upstairs. “What about Emerald? She… she’s okay with you doing this for me? Shouldn’t we share with her too?”
Sharp looked away. “She, uh… might be under the impression that this is a… date.”
Candles, privacy, alcohol… it wasn’t like having it actually named a date made it any less of one than it already was. But it sure felt different. What did I expect? He kissed me. I could’ve stopped this then.
She could stop it now. She didn’t.
“We should do something for her,” she said instead. “Emerald… she’s been working so hard. She lost as much as you, maybe more.”
Sharp seemed to relax. Maybe not getting shot down was enough of a confirmation for him. “It’s her birthday in a few days.” He glanced to one side, eyes losing focus for a second. “One, two… three days, on the 14th. I expect it will be… pretty rough, with her family gone.”
Should I be guilty that I’m pushing his date off into something for Emerald? Maybe she should be, but she wasn’t. “Will we be in Manehattan by then? There’s got to be something we can do for her.”
“She always wanted to go to a museum,” Sharp supplied. He didn’t seem upset with the change of subject. “There’s this shack that displays old fishing stuff in Sleighsburg, they open up whenever sailors from Griffonstone are ashore. But she’s always wanted to see something bigger.”
“That sounds perfect,” Theo said. Not to mention safe. Nothing bad ever happens in a museum. “We can do that, and… use Feather gear to pay for it.” She stood up, moving to the wall and removing her saddlebags there, holding up the folded letter. “I’ve still got that coupon. I know you don’t like Feather, but… we can take their bits, can’t we? We’ll need more supplies than what we have to reach Mt. Aris.”
“I guess… I guess so,” he said. “I know you’re excited to see another creature from home, but… I don’t think it will do anything good. You’re not like her, Summer. You’re different. Better.”
She wanted to ask why, but then he was beside her, and he kissed her again. She didn’t resist that either.