//------------------------------// // Next Game's Called Props // Story: Odrsjot // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// 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.