Tuxley and Reginald took their seats on the train platform. A pair of folding chairs, a table, two cups and a thermos of piping hot tea were all the pair had. The other refugees were crammed inside the train, which they would be as well after they were done. But for now, they had tea, and that was all they needed.
"It occurs to me, sir, that this will be..."
Tuxley looked up. "Yes?" he encouraged.
Reginald's found the strength to keep his chin raised, hard as it was. "This is to be our last tea on Equestria."
Tuxley blinked, phased by his friend's words. "I... yes, you're right. Quite right, indeed." The two of them knew it, but to truly acknowledge it, put all the more weight on the heart. "Wherever we do wind up, there will be tea again. Surely."
"Surely, sir," Reginald repeated, as confidently as they could. In truth, neither of them knew for sure, but it was a pretty good bet these were not their last cups.
The two of them having tea might have seemed like an odd pair. And they were, there was no doubt about that. Reginald, and his odd position with the Crystal Empire and Tuxley, with his being a dinosaur and all, were two individuals that had very little in common in their natures to do with each other or even the world they were in. That was what made tea all the more important for them; in a world where they seemed out of place, they made their place in it every day. They made the world make sense with tea.
"Should we do something... special, sir?" Reginald proposed. "To commemorate the occasion."
"What did you have in mind?"
"Mind if I join you, gentlemen?" Doctor Whooves asked. "I could really use a good cuppa right about now."
"Did someone say tea?"
"I smell tea."
"I both heard and smell tea."
Ponies, donkeys, all of them made their way out the train. They crowded around the table on the platform.
Dollars removed his helmet. "I could go for a hot drink." Jake, Kelsan and the storm troopers joined them, but did not remove their own helmets.
The two gentries looked around them, quickly realizing a problem. "I, well... errm..."
"I don't think we- we may not have quite enough for everybody," Reginald said, the thermos looking small in his hooves. He looked over to Tuxley, not wanting to have said what he just said. Even if they both went without a cup, there was no way they could possibly spare a drop for everyone there. They simply didn't have enough tea. They didn't even have enough cups.
"We... we could try," Reginald said. He turned around. "Would everyone here care for tea?"
The answer came in unified nods, in softly spoken words, in eager eyes and hopeful faces. It was all the same answer. The two odd gentlemen knew what their only response could be.
Tux patted his claw on Reginald's shoulder. "Let's have tea, then." And it was just so.
In the depths of the cannon
"...And that's why, while we haven't been using the cannon exactly, we did find another use for it."
"That's amazing," Twilight said. "I had no idea Luna... I mean, Princess Luna, had that much foresight." Even as she said it, Twilight thought now that it should've been obvious to her.
True to his word, Reed Roamer and his former-criminal thugs had activated the pumps at each of the respective cities. There was something poetic about the Spiral Staircase having been a prison and now it being operated by former crooks, but either way, they would be joining Twilight and the others as they made their escape. The four substances of Donquestria filled the massive chamber below Twilight's hooves, immense pressure building.
Trish nodded. "Mm-hmm. And now, for our part in things." Standing around a ring-shaped platform encircling and just above the chamber, were the members of the New Baltimare Gun Club. The platform had four stations accompanied by gauges, levers, dials, knobs, doodads and what have you but no computers. There was nothing electrical in the complex aside from what had been installed after the cannon was converted into a prison.
The four donkeys got to work. Only the four of them, the Gun Club members, really knew how to work the enormous contraption.
"Readings are looking good so far," Vintage said. He tapped with of the dials with his hoof. "Could use a good dusting, though."
"We'll have to make a not of that," Poshley remarked, busy at his own station. "Are the calibrations set, Libby?"
"Almost... there... aaaaaannnnddd," Libby examined her sensitive scientific instruments. The toaster dinged, the toast popped up and Libra grabbed the first slice and took a bite. "Mmmmm-hmm, yup! We're good!" Truly, the intricacies of the cannon's complex inner workings were a technological marvel that few minds could comprehend. Maybe Pinkie.
"What do I do?" Twilight asked, in a voice that sounded timid to ears not her own. Even with all her power, she was still the same cautious and clever purple mare she'd always been.
"Just a moment, your majesty! And..." The microwave dinged, the kettle whistled and a tiny figurine of a Scotsman blew his bagpipes. And yeah, no electricity, that's still going on.
Outside, as Dan did battle with the flying steel donut, a massive dome of magic energy covered the concave complex. Dark as night at first, it slowly materialized into a view of space. But not just any space, no- deep space. Quite possibly the spaciest space of all, even more than that one with the jam in it.
Stars, nebulae, planets all appeared across the vast vista overhead. It was like the complex had a giant planetarium projection above it.
Even though Twilight was deep inside the cannon itself, she saw everything above her and more. Princess Luna and the donkeys had been mapping the stars, mapping space itself. She started looking for a second Equestria long ago.
Sorry for the short update this week, gang. Things have been difficult but I'm getting through them. Still not sick, at least I hope not. With allergies you never really know. Stay safe everybody!
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There was much Tea, and thanks, but not so much rejoicing.
Fuel tank pressurisation complete. Turbopump pre-spinup complete. Turbopump igniters active. Primary fuel valve solenoids armed and active.
Ready for main engine start up sequence.
10272894
I don’t really think you should be putting so much into this story, it’s all well and good putting your blood, sweat and tears into something to make it a quote unquote “masterpiece” or at least good, but you only have so much to give, too much and you’ll shatter.
In other words, you shouldn’t be overworking yourself or getting stressed over this. It’s a story, readers can live if chapters come out on a longer delay or if a hiatus happens. It matters more that the author - you - are okay.
I do agree with your points in regards to the story, on another note. Some chapters are hit-or-miss, especially later into the story, while the early chapters I felt were great. You don’t do yourself credit though, a lot more of the story I would consider good - and others would agree - than you seem to think. Though, you are right that earlier chapters did seem to be the best. But I would attribute that to the idea being milked so much. Stories can only go for so long - both on TV and on paper - not because of any fault on the author’s part but because people eventually start to lose interest, and the things that can be done with the story eventually start to dry up. The longer a story goes on, the more things the readers expect, and the less things the author can give. As you and I said, the fact that you’ve kept it going so long is amazing.
10274470
You're missing the bigger picture- the other stories I've written. I never wanted to be the guy that started a bunch of awesome things, had a lot of awesome ideas and didn't finish them but that's the direction I was heading in. I'd hated when I'd seen that happen to other artists, and so I worked to change that. I decided I needed something I could devote myself to, something I could deliver to my audience with SOME level of consistency, stability, reliability. So Dan became my focus.
I started this story not wanting to add even a single OC(apart from Fluffle) into this. My other work was for me, this would be for the audience. At the end of episode 3 I realized I couldn't keep doing this with that attitude. Every episode was supposed to have its own song for that matter. I wanted to do something unique that not many other stories like this did. The Director was originally meant to be Discord playing an elaborate prank on Dan, but things changed both with my own writing and the show itself.
So, the story changed and became crazier, more random, a mess but... I have a way to, for the most part, turn some of that around. There's a twist at the end of this episode, a decision that I think some will disagree with, but is very appropriate for things. Dan's journey has been full of ups and downs, but there's only one way it could have ended.
A new chapter means it’s ~Sunday~ now let me see n’ere *dons reading glasses*
This chapter ... that beginning ... the Englander in me is so moved, I’m tearing up here! I’m so inspired I could just *dons suit with tie covered in Eevee and Mew print* (Wut? I never said I was the respectable type who’s never silly!) ahem:
We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and if, we’re all alive when it’s all over ... we will have tea together once more, and we shall drink it over Rice Grip’s FRESHLY DUG GRAVE!” (beginning) by Winston Churchill and (finishing) by LadyLeomon!
The world can blow up, break apart, freeze over, then lather, rinse, repeat until Tish Above (that’s a real thing folks, I’m just too lazy to spell it right!) but if there’s a warm cuppa waiting for me at the end of it with family and good friends (or at the very least people I don’t wanna throttle) ... I’ll be okay!
Now for my Favourite Tea-themed Quotes:
*sniff* I’ve never been so moved by two perfectly respectable gentleman drinking tea!
(BRB to add more, Pinkie Promise!)
Phew and that’s everything I love (most) about this week’s chapter and I’ll eagerly await the next. Many thanks for this newest inspiring chapter (remember it’s not the size of the teapot, it’s the quality of the tea poured from it!)
Awesome as always, stay safe Dearest Barro and I’ll see you ~next time~
Your Eternal Fan ^_^
10275198
Good to see you again, as always, and I hope you're staying safe as well. Also, I like your choice of ties. Sorry this week was another short one but things have been difficult again. Hope to make the next one longer.
10274722
Bear in mind I'm over 62 chapters behind >.>
But yeah, I get what you mean, I also find it frustrating when stories die randomly, or are pushed to the backburner under other stories. But I'm not saying you should do that, I'm saying you need to take time to de-stress, to take a break every now and then. Don't burn yourself out, y'know?
10275632
I appreciate the concern but I'm in the home stretch. And closing in on a million words. However, I feel Season 2 is going to have a different update schedule and I think that is for the best.
10275688
Okay, I'll keep on reading~!
10276109
Quad biking does sound fun. This scene is actually something of an homage to a couple levels from Wario Land 2 and the Ord Mantell level from Shadows of the Empire. There's a few references to both those things, along with a couple primers to other things I'm writing. The underground fight club gets a bit messy but I wanted to have Dan in some way fight a few key characters because... well, I can't give too much away on that.
What a nice little scene, I like to think there was at least a swallow for every last creature that wanted some tea. Its good to be reminded what it is they're all striving for.
10278600
Thank you. I actually had to rewrite this scene a couple of times. First, it was going to end with a toast and was just going to be the Doctor, Tuxley and Reginald, then I was going to have them all toast with a single drop each but as I'm writing it, I get to that point where I realize it's one of those moments best left up to interpretation. It's a scene for everyone, so it's for everyone to decide what really happened. In this instance, whatever your heart decides is the truth.
Is one of them thing to turn out to be Teasus?
'make a not of that' - note
Comforting rituals are the best of traditions. Not all tradition is good, and neither is all practices and beliefs.
But sharing is caring.