The sun rose over Sweet Apple Acres, and just a short time after, a thin column of morning light crept across the floor of the guest room housing Skitch-Sketch belongings and struck the mare right in the eye. She groaned miserably and, quickly devising a solution, pressed herself closer to Jacoby to keep her face out of the offending sunbeam, and made extra sure it would cease to be a problem by grabbing his wing and draping it over her head before laying back down on her pillow.
An instant later, her panicked scream rang out across the farm house, and then Jacoby’s panicked scream rang out, and then both of them stopped screaming in panic and started wailing in agony.
“My head feels like there’s a Pinkie Pie Party in it.”
Skitch sat at the table just off the kitchen, her head planted firmly on the top and one leg draped over her face, covering her eyes. Jacoby sat next to her, having taken things a step further and covered his face with both his wings. Across from them sat Applejack, who couldn’t help but look at them with poorly masked amusement. Schadenfreude was the Griffish word for it; entertainment at the expense of others. To her side sat Apple Bloom, who was stifling a giggle less at the expense of Skitch and Jacoby, and more at the bizarre expression Skitch used to describe her pain.
“Oh, how sad for you,” Hänsel remarked from the kitchen. While the other four sat around the table, he had decided to busy himself washing the dishes from breakfast, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up passed his elbows. Although Granny Smith would normally tackle the dishes, the Count had insisted (much as he had insisted that, since they were such good friends now, they should be comfortable with given names rather than formal titles), and the eldest Apple had slunk off to her rocking chair on the front porch for a short nap. “It almost sounds as if you snuck inside somegriffon’s cabin und stole zeir cognac. Vich, I suppose, is not surprising, since zis is exactly vat you did! Eselhengst.”
“Ah reckon ya’ll had it comin’,” Applejack said. “In fact, Ah’d say ya’ll deserve this, after th’ way ya both went carrying on last night.”
"ZNRRRRK!” said Jacoby from behind the door to the guest room that served as Skitch’s living space. "ZNRRRRK! ZNRRRRK!”
“ZNRRRRK!” replied Skitch in turn. “ZNRRRRK! ZNRRRRK!”
“Couldn’t tell if it was th’ two o’ you, or a couple o’ lions with bronchitis!”
“I am glaring at you with simmering irritation,” came Jacoby’s voice from underneath his wings. “It’s too bright to actually glare at you. Use your imagination.” For a moment, he expected Alexios to chime in, before recalling he had slipped out with Applejack’s brother to assist with some of the morning chores. The tension in his head lessened just slightly.
And then it increased again when the safety and warmth of his wing blanket was invaded from outside. “Lemme in,” Skitch whined as she wormed her way underneath. It was easy enough, since Jacoby did little to actually stop her from doing so. “Oh, wow, this is a good idea.”
“I’m so glad to share the joy of my discovery with another creature,” Jacoby replied, not sounding at all serious.
“You mean to say you were looking forward to sharing your Fortress of Solitude with someone?” Skitch asked with equal parts humor and pain.
“I was looking to it more than I’m looking forward to getting die Trauer Stern ready for travel,” Jacoby replied.
“Don’t vorry about zat, Jacoby. You need to rest.” Hänsel finished up with the final plate and set to drying it. “I can prepare ze ship, und I zink I can manage lunch as vell."
“I couldn’t ask you to do that."
“Jacoby Flynn,” said Hänsel sternly. The dried plate went onto the counter, and the griffon turned away from the sink and approached the table. “How long have we been friends? Seven, eight years?”
“Around there,” Jacoby replied weakly from underneath the wing cocoon.
“Und in zat time, I have vatched you pilot die Trauer Stern on numerous occasions. I am novere near ze pilot zat you are, und truly, vould be very concerned if I vere left at ze helm for any lengz of time, but I am neverzeless confident zat I can perform ze necessary pre-flight preparations vhile Alexios is assisting in ze orchard. You und Miss Sketch should rest und recover, und leave everyzing else to us.”
Jacoby’s wing lifted just enough to allow Hänsel to see the slight smile gracing his face. “I appreciate that immensely, my friend,” he said, “But I’ll have to pass.” Both wings lifted and folded back to rest at his sides while he blinked rapidly to battle the sudden influx of light. Skitch, likewise without a feathery photoshield, groaned miserably. “I should do it myself. A little physical and cognitive exercise, and I’ll be feeling like one-quarter of my old self in no time.”
Hänsel offered a light shrug in response. “Passen Sie sich,” he said, “But now, I shall have nozing to do.”
“Ya wanna help me with ma homework ‘fore Ah go t’ school?” Apple Bloom asked brightly.
“Apple Bloom!” said Applejack admonishingly, in the way a mother might scold her foal. “Now that ain’t no way t’ act towards a guest."
“But Applejack!” the filly protested, “I’m s’posed t’ write ‘bout cutie marks, an’ Ah son’t have one. But Mister Hänsel don’t have one neither, an’ he still found his special talent, cuz his job is t’ count things an’ they even gave ‘im a title that says so, so Ah thought Ah could write ‘bout how griffons don’t have cutie marks, an’ how they still find their special talent without one.”
Apple Bloom’s outburst was met with silence.
“That’s,” Skitch began, still rubbing her headache away, “Actually a really good idea.”
“Oh, c’mon, Skitch,” Applejack pleaded, but the unicorn would have none of it.
“I’m serious, AJ. It’s an educational topic, covering information that probably won’t be covered by the normal curriculum, it promotes cultural awareness, and it’ll be completely unlike anything that anyone else in class is going to write. Plus, that kind of outside-the-box thinking improves abstract reasoning and problem solving, which are skills that don’t usually get developed until way later in life. I wasn’t really introduced to those things as formalized concepts until I was almost in college.”
“Well, uh, when ya put it like that….” For all her trying to agree, Applejack still didn’t sound too convinced. “But still! Ya can’t jus’ expect a guest t’ drop everythin’ t’ help with yer homework, jus’ cuz they can’t think o’ nothin’ else t’ do. Never mind yer chores.”
“Oh, I don’t mind at all,” said Hänsel as he reinserted himself into the conversation. “In fact, I vould be delighted to help in anyvay zat I can. You vill need me to review your research materials, ja? Make sure zey are accurate enough for your use?"
“Well, uh, Ah don’ actually have anythin’ like that,” Apple Bloom admitted shyly. “Ah jus’ figured Ah could ask ya ‘bout it an’ write down what ya said."
"Ah, an interview, zen. Und viz a Count at such an age, no less!" Hänsel sounded almost as excited at the prospect as Apple Bloom. "Perhaps you shall have a career in journalism. Oh, ve should get started right avay."
"C'mon!" In a flash, Apple Bloom was scurrying upstairs to her room with Hänsel in hot pursuit, leaving every other creature around the table slightly dumbstruck as the clopping and clacking of hooves and talon caps retreated.
"Fur on a catfish!" Applejack exclaimed, stomping her hoof. "That's th' second time he's got somepony outta doin' their work!”
“He’s got a knack for it, I’ve found,” Jacoby said, rubbing his forehead. “Thank you for breakfast, Miss Apple. And putting up with our snoring. And the, barn.” He was markedly more uncomfortable at the mention of the barn. “Honestly, I’m surprised you took it as well as you did. Is this not the first time it’s happened?”
“Ha! Ah wish!”
“Huh.” Jacoby was quick enough to push that thought aside. “In any case, Skitch, would you mind joining me on die Stern? The least we can do is make more than a token contribution to lunch.”
“Sure, great,” Skitch replied as she rose from her seat at the table, “As long as it gets me into some softer light."
"Skitch, y' mind if Ah borrow ya fer a second ‘fore ya go out?" Applejack asked before the unicorn had a chance to get away.
"Uh, sure?" Skitch replied with a small degree of uncertainty. "I'll catch up to you in a minute, Jake." The griffon replied with a nod before moving out the front door, and Skitch turned to follow Applejack into the living room. "What's up, AJ?"
Rather than replying, Applejack glanced out the window first, the gave a satisfied nod and turned back to The other pony. “Skitch, Ah ain’t one t’ boss nopony ‘round, less it’s fer their own good, but don’cha think maybe you ’n Flynn’re movin’ a mite quick?”
Skitch quirked her brow and peered at Applejack in confusion for a few seconds. “Oh,” she said suddenly. “Because of last night. That’s why you’re asking, right?” A single nod provided confirmation. For a moment, Skitch nibbled on her lip in thought. “And, you’re asking because you’re concerned about me, and not for any other reason, right?” Again, Applejack nodded. Again, Skitch nibbled her lip for a moment while she ran that through her mind, and then voiced her reply.
“I got this, AJ.”
Protests from the farm mare were cut off with a raised hoof. “I get that you’re concerned about me,” Skitch continued, “And to be honest, I appreciate it, because I know it means that you’re my friend and you care about me. But I got this. Nothing happened last night except a cuddle-“
For a moment, Skitched stopped and recoiled. It felt weird, saying that. “A cuddle between friends, which friends do, I might add. And I guess we were snoring, or something. But that’s it. I’m not looking for a relationship right now, and I don’t think Jake is, either. He’s already got his work, especially since he’s working for Parliament again, and it leaves him time to have friends, and go to parties, and even take ‘research expeditions’-“ Applejack did not miss the implied euphemism in those words- “To places like Equestria, but not a lot else, and he seems happy with that. He’s already got what he wants, and I have no idea what I want, so I’d say that wraps things up pretty nicely. Don’t you agree?”
Applejack was quiet for a moment, looking at the floor, and then raised her head back up. “Ah, guess so….”
After another moment passed with no further response, Skitch decided it was appropriate to fill the dead air. “But?"
Again, Applejack was quiet for a moment, working out phrasing before speaking. “Ah jus’,” she began, pausing a moment to arrange her thoughts once more. “Ah jus’ hope he don’t get th’ wrong idea, y’ know?”
Skitch puzzled at that. “No, I’m not sure that I do. But I think if you explained it to me, I might pick up on something I missed earlier?” She herself was not totally certain about the last part.
“Well, it’s like, predator an’ prey, y’ know?” Applejack said. “Like, he’s got all them pointy bits, an’ all you have is some hairs. Lettin’ ‘im cuddle up behind ya like Ah think y’ was implyin’, where he can get at yer belly with those claws o’ his any time he wants? Ah’m a pretty trustin’ pony, an Ah don’t think Ah could ever do that. What if he starts wonderin’, if ya let ‘im do that t’ ya, what else ya might let ‘im do?"
It was Skitch who was quiet for a few moments then, although the expression she wore was not the one of thought that Applejack had, but one of realization. "I, didn't even think about that," she said. But then, she shook the thought out of her head. “Doesn’t matter. I trust him, but I’ll be more careful from now on, Applejack. I promise.”
“Well, Ah guess that’ll do, fer now,” Applejack replied, finally smiling. “Long as yer careful. Now git, ‘fore yer boyfriend starts thinkin’ yer into mares.”
“He is not- aw, skip it!” With an exasperated, and exaggerated sigh, Skitch whirled around and thumped her body against Applejack’s with the same mirth that she might’ve had when playfully shoving a friend about, were she still human. She and Applejack both returned to the living room and then went out the front door, the latter chuckling all the while, parting ways as Applejack went to the barn to finish up morning chores (meaning, to take full stock of just how total its destruction was), and Skitch went towards the airship floating above the ground with a rocket strapped under its hull.
The ladder leading up to die Trauer Stern was deployed, just as Jacoby had said it would be, and also would pose no problem for hooves. Now that Skitch was able to actually look at it, she saw that the rungs were solid and fairly wide wooden planks, rather than just lengths of rope. She didn't have hands like Alexios, but if she hooked her front legs over one of the rungs, she could pull herself up while using her hind legs to push, moving upwards sort of like an inchworm might. It proved to be a surprisingly efficient means of climbing.
Skitch chanced a glance behind her when she was about halfway to the top, down towards the ground, and then jerked her head forwards, fixing her eyes firmly on the top of the ladder. Until that moment, it hadn't occurred to her that, lacking hands, she didn't really have any way to hold onto the ladder if she slipped. She decided, in the moment after that, that the arrangement Jacoby had fashioned, while certainly effective, could not possibly have been safe. After a few more seconds of extra careful climbing, she pulled herself onto the deck and resolved to make the griffon fly her back to the ground.
Jacoby, meanwhile, looked up from his instrument panel in the pilot's cabin when her heard hooves on deck, and then smiled and waved when he saw Skitch. As she approached, he moved to the door, opened it, and stuck his head out. "Step into my office," he said, which she did happily before he closed the door behind her.
Skitch hadn't been sure what to expect, but the ship's helm hardly seemed out of place. The rest of the panel was covered in steam gauges, switches and a few buttons, and it reminded her less of a sailing ship and more of an airliner cockpit. What looked like a periscope was set in the ceiling, and of course there was a table with a map of Equestria spread over it. She hadn't gotten a good look at the room the previous night, especially in the dark, but in the light, it looked like a perfectly functional pilot's cabin.
"So, what do you say now, Skitch?" Jaccoby asked. "Still prefer your 'aeroplanes?'"
"Airplanes aren't nearly this cool," replied Skitch, trotting over to the helm for a better look at everything. As she expected, every label was in Griffish, and she couldn't read any of them. "They also run on specially blended liquid fuel, so they aren't exactly convenient to keep in your backyard. How does this one get around?"
"Electric motors." Jacoby limped over to join the unicorn. "There's a power battery down in the engine room. Low voltage, high current electricity flows out into a transformer, which sends high voltage, low current electricity to the motors that spin the propellers, and off we go! There are also torque transmitters connected to the motors, which drive magnetos that send more electricity to the rectification array and then-"
"And then back to the battery," Skitch finished. "Regenerating power, right? Humans have something similar for ground transportation."
Jacoby smiled at her. "The more you talk about where you're from, the more I want to go there someday. Your technology sounds fascinating."
"Yeah..." said the unicorn with no small amount of discomfort. Jacoby noticed, but Skitch was too quick to give him a chance to ask about it. “So, what does the main generator run on?”
“What do you mean?” The expression on the griffon’s face didn’t indicate whether or not that information was secret, although it did indicate he was a bit irritated by the sudden change of subject.
“Well, the airship has a battery, you said that, and it has magnetos connected to the propellers, but there has to be something else too. Some of the rules are the same between this world and mine, and one of those is that it’s impossible to get more energy out of a system than is put into it. It can’t be done, not even with magic. So there has to be another generator in the system somewhere, otherwise the battery would go dead. Maybe that isn't a problem for commercial shipping, but you told me last night, unless I'm misremembering, that this one's main purpose was moving mercs and soldier around so they could get to the front. That means it has to be fast, and have long range, and you can't get both of those with just batteries. So what does it run on?”
Jacoby looked at her for a few moments, and then offered a lopsided grin. “You’re too clever for your own good, Skitch,” he said. “Generally, the hull of a warship, even a converted one like die Trauer Stern has several small ducts at the bow. When flying at speed, air enters a duct and spins a fan, which spins a magneto through a torque transmitter. The electricity generated then passes through the rectification array, and into the power battery. At altitude, there's almost always wind, so for long journeys, it's very reliable, and the space that would be otherwise used for coal and boilers can be used for almost anything else. In the case here, a larger power battery, larger galley, and expanded living areas.”
The unicorn nodded. “And what does your generator run on?” Jacoby replied with a smug grin and nothing more, and it only took a moment for Skitch to get the hint. “Maybe you’ll tell me if I ask some other time, eh?”
"Maybe I will," replied Jacoby. "Now, if you'll accompany me below deck, I wouldn't mind some help with pre-flight checks, and then we'll see if we can pull part of a picnic lunch together before the rest of your friends arrive to see us off. I think I know just the thing."
When lunch at Sweet Apple Acres did come around, it was quite fortunately without disaster or awkward social misunderstandings. The Apple family brought studel, fresh from Granny Smith’s over (with Hänsel assisting, although he, with hardly any baking experience, was unsure of how much he had actually been).
Pinkie Pie, to the surprise of absolutely no creature, supplied not less than two dozens cupcakes, although she had clearly experimented with new flavors, including a bitter orange that was less successful than anticipated.
Fluttershy, to the surprised of almost everycreature, brought a small smoked salmon fillet (so as to help the griffons feel more at home, although they may have been a bit distracted, wondering where a pony managed to acquire a smoked salmon fillet).
Twilight brought a small sampling of hard and semi-soft cheeses, owing to her upbringing in Canterlot (where cheese was one of the few things that never went out of fashion).
Rarity brought a generous side of Griffish spätzle and hot mustard (although there were a few questioning looks as to where she acquired an ‘old family recipe’ on short notice).
Rainbow Dash surprised all present not with her contributions, but with her arrival, trotting along the ground rather than flying through the air. The presence of a small keg of apple cider balanced on her back prevented too much concern, fortunately. Unfortunately, two attendees had little choice but to stick with water (Rainbow Dash, however, got a kick out of their explanation).
The dish brought courtesy of the out-of-towners (with Skitch assisting) was a simple ratatouille, which was surprising to those who didn’t know better (“Griffons can certainly eat properly cooked vegetables,” said Jacoby on the matter), although was perhaps a bit more surprising for Rarity than the others (“Should it matter if it is peasant food, so long as it is delicious?” was Hänsel’s take).
Commendations were doled out over the mealtime conversation. The middle Apple, Big Mac, commended Alexios on his ‘appleboxing’ (even if, in his own words, “it ain’t quite ready yet”). Rarity commended Hänsel for his gallant actions in defending her (and Rainbow Dash and Spike) the previous day in Canterlot (even though he was quick to call his actions “boorish und embarrassing,” once he’d stopped to consider them). Hänsel then commended Spike for his “truly gallant” behavior the previous day in Canterlot (and, as Spike was not present to say anything in response, further went on to call Spike a model that young colts should strive to emulate). Finally, Skitch commended Jacoby for his ability to “take a barn to the face like a champ” (to which Jacoby replied with a very unkind look).
Soon enough, lunch ended. Dishes were packed to be cleaned later. Hänsel and Rarity exchanged addresses, and then he took her hoof and touched the tip of his beak to it in an approximately of a courtly kiss, to which she tittered and blushed a bit. Alexios and Pinkie exchanged addresses, and then she seized him in a spine-crushing hug, to which he insisted he was “just fine,” even though no one believed him. Jacoby and Twilight exchanged addresses, and then she gave him a horn-written primer regarding Quartz Crystal’s Theory of Intrinsic Magical Fields, to which he became excited about the help it would give to his research. Finally, Skitch and Jacoby shared a hug, and a promise to continue writing.
Then, the visitors ascended up to the deck of die Trauer Stern and waved a final goodbye. The anchors withdrew their pitons and rose back up to the hull, the propellers spun to life, the airship changed its heading and departed north-east, and life returned to normal.
It was normal for Ponyville, at any rate.