(#00785 - B054)
[AN: I already have a much longer one in progress here, so I’ll pretend it doesn’t exist in my continuity just for you. (Seriously, keeping a continuity is vastly important to me and registers on my OCD) You’re welcome]
1912
There was a small dirigible docked with the Eiffel Tower, which some Parisians still called “the tragic coat hanger”. But even they had to admit that it did come in handy as a dock for dirigibles, a lighthouse, and a radio tower.
The peculiar family that disembarked… was something Paris had never seen before.
Two of the men, one older than the other, looked like they’d stepped out of a photograph. Supremely pale of skin and black of hair. Another young man was almost identical to the photograph-boy in everything but colour. He was blonde and a comparative picture of health. The boys’ mother was so unremarkable as to almost vanish from sight. Though she wore demure green, she blended into the scenery until the elder of the photographs caught her up in an enthusiastic hug and kissed her passionately.
Then… she glowed.
Following her onto the tower were four metal people. Giants like the eldest Photograph man, and taller than him with it. They were all dressed sharply in black and red. Copper, silver, brass and bronze.
The copper one played hopscotch on the gantry and, once across, wheeled to face the other metal men.
“See d-dummins? It’s all safe!”
The brass one somehow glided across the gantry. Then the bronze one was the living embodiment of perfect posture and marching form.
Leaving the silver one whimpering and beeping uncertainly on the dirigible.
There was some evident debate held between the metal men by means of birdsong before the copper one stomped all the way back and carried his silver brother to join his metal family.
The Walter family had arrived in Paris.
When they arrived at L’Oiseau Rare, they were given special seating (the automatons had to sit on the stairs since no chair in Paris was robust enough to hold them) and champagne and the show of a lifetime.
They stayed to interview Francoeur, Lucille, Raoul and the Professor about the giant flea who sang.
And it was the robots, bickering in binary, who got Francoeur to talk. After a fashion.
Soon, all five of them were chittering eagerly amongst themselves and jamming with the orchestra’s instruments and generally laying a soundtrack to the humans’ conversations.
And when it was revealed that the Walters were in Paris for Iris’ birthday… well… she got an impromptu concert the likes of which no-one had ever seen.
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Challenge #00760 - B029: Hug-a-Bunch
“And here we have- please put the new ambassador down.”
“But (s)he’s so cute and cuddle able!”Ha’ri still didn’t understand how she became an ambassador to her people. She was just one of the many, many asteroid-chasers trying to make enough money to pay for more than her ship and its fuel….
Challenge #00738 - B007: Draco Concilium
Dragon Convention, Not just European please, there are Chinese, Pernese, Cartoon dragons, Reluctant and Mu Shu, Better stick to the Mythical and Literary type. Have Fun.
The place was huge. It had to be. Some attendees needed to break the rules of physics just to exist[1]. And even a…
(#00681 - A316)
1965
“No, Rabbit. We’re almost there. Just a little further.”
“…my everything hurts,” whimpered the copper robot.
“I know.”
Rabbit should never have come to Vietnam. The Jon, already hiding in the little cave that The Spine had found, should never have come to Vietnam. The Spine didn’t want to, either, but he had to pay for his military upgrades somehow. He had to support the Walter family. Pay back the debt.
The Jon had had the idea. The contract stated that The Spine had to maintain a position in the armed forces in times of war. It didn’t say one word about fighting.
So he had found this place, miles from anywhere. And rescued his robotic siblings from the fray.
Rabbit was in bad shape. Bullets did nasty things to copper. Worse things to the gears and workings underneath. And worse, Rabbit never did get completed surface plating like the others. Which meant that any damage happened directly to his workings.
Which, in turn, was why The Spine was literally dragging Rabbit to safety.
“…so tired…”
“Sorry, Rabbit. My other arm’s not working. I can’t carry you.”
Rabbit shuddered as his servos misfired. He’d been glitching a lot more, lately. But there was sunshine and tools and a stream of water. And a jerry-can of motor oil. All waiting in the cave.
They just had to get there.
“How much longer, th’ Spine?”
“Just a little more. You can make it. I know you can make it.”
“…ev’ryth’n feels… wrrroooooonnnn—*”
Rabbit became a sudden dead weight in The Spine’s working arm. Which wasn’t in good enough shape to hold him. Rabbit’s battered form fell to the jungle floor.
“I’m sorry…” The Spine knelt and checked his brother. Empty boiler. And a crack that made it leak. Typical Rabbit. Not letting on he was more damaged than he seemed.
Come to think of it. He was running low, too.
There was a stream nearby. He could refill his canteen and Rabbit’s. Re-stock them both.
He shut down Rabbit’s power core so that he wouldn’t overheat. Safety first. Rabbit didn’t have automatic shutdown protocols like The Jon and himself.
It was harder to get to the stream than he thought. Too many vines. Too many jungle roots. Too many thick leaves…
Just a little further.
Just a little fur—
1974
The Spine opened his eyes in the brief terror that the soldiers had found him. Found poor broken Rabbit. Found The Jon.
Rabbit was in his field of view. Repaired. Wearing a different face. And grinning in the way that only Rabbit could.
“War’s over?”
“War is over,” confirmed The Jon. “If you want it.”
Good. For the first time in decades, The Spine smiled.
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Challenge #00582 - A207: Visiting an Ailing Friend
Hatchworth and Fluttershy in the world of SPG
[AN: I almost tossed this and then I realised it was a different prompt]
Hatchworth was certainly an interesting friend. He spoke of interesting things, of humans and dragons and an assortment of interesting beings in a place called Kazooland.
…
Challenge #00581 - A206: At the Other End of a Tunnel Through Snornia
(( You did say to stop the promptspam when you hit like 70, I think the plan was to try and keep things at a steady level of around 20 instead of spamming all at once and then waiting for things to drop off ))
Prompt: Hatchworth and Fluttershy in Equestria
[AN: The amount of prompts is an…
Challenge #00565 - A190: One Fine Evening in a Festival of Masques
A duet between Francouer and The Spine.
On the plus side, the makeup was working. On the minus side, everyone was giving him the stink-eye because he’d decided to test it during an extended costume party all over Paris.
The Spine considered it a point of merit that he had to buy a cheap mask…
Challenge #00525 - A150: Not Made to be Broken
FREE DAY!
Of course Steve had heard about the secret weapon code-named Rabbit. It was impossible to not hear about other secret weapons when one is also technically a secret weapon.
This was one of the few he got to meet.
He was used to techies referring to their weapons and vehicles as…
Challenge #00496 - A121: Adventures With Incompatible Technology
The robots of Steam-Powered Giraffe meet Van Rijn’s Muses.
{Fldth-whomp}
“I’m not saying she wasn’t a nice lady, Hatchy, I’m saying you really should have given that big, dangly robot her portal gun back. It’s done weird things to your cannon.”
“I like my new can-non,” grumbled a second…
(#00456 - A081)
She was used to music, since her shrubbery was by a stage. Her leaves and stems regularly shook with the thumping of music.
She was a young dryad. Just a shrub, so she had no idea what she was in for when the steam powered automatons took the stage.
It was love at first chord. Especially for the copper one with the mismatched eyes. Every time he[1] was on stage, she thrust her leaves towards the stage. Wanting to feel a whisper of his mechanical legs.
Wanting him to know that she was there.
And so soon. Too soon. He and his mechanical brothers were gone.
It would be years before she could hop from plant to plant, but she would find them. Years more before she could take a humanoid form and see them in person.
But now she had a goal. Something to work for. And one day, she would have the power of words to tell them:
“I love Steam Powered Giraffe.”
[1] Era appropriate gender!
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