With his latest miracle of aviation engineering fully tried and tested, Sir Geoffrey and his company experienced little trouble in proving its worth to the whole world. Shortly after the final tests had been completed and his report had been submitted to the Air Minister, Lord Cloud, he invited him over to Foalborough so he could see the Constellation in action for the first time. Lord Cloud duly accepted, and was most impressed by the plane's performance; put simply, he observed, this was the most impressive aircraft that he had ever seen to date, and he would be more than happy to certify it as airworthy.
Five months later, the newly certified Constellation made its bow at the Foalborough Air Display. Of all the aircraft that attended the event, this gargantuan airliner easily proved to be the star of the show – its size and shape alone took the general public by storm, and even the most hardened experts could only stare in disbelief as it swooped majestically over the airfield again and again! But more importantly, the performance of Sir Geoffrey's creation appealed enormously to commercial airlines all across Equestria, and indeed the whole world.
Orders for the new aircraft came thick and fast, starting with the nation's biggest airline operator, Royal Equestrian Airways, and rapidly spreading further and further afield. At last, within a year of its first public appearance, Sir Geoffrey's vision came to pass as the Constellation went into full-scale production – by early November, the first batch had already been pressed into service with Royal Equestrian Airways, with many more due to follow shortly. They became an instant hit with passengers, and gained a reputation over the next four months as one of the finest airliner models ever to grace the skies, a reputation that made them the subject of many a magazine article, documentary film and airline advertisement throughout Equestria.
But not everypony welcomed the new airliners into service so warmly. Even though the prototype had very effectively proven its worth, many still held that the airframe would never be able to hold itself together for very long, while others claimed that the demand for such a bulky aircraft would soon fade out. The most formidable opposition, however, came not from the sceptics, but from rival aircraft manufacturers...
As yet another commercial played out on television screens all over the nation, heartily singing the Constellation's praises, a white Earth pony stallion, with a black mane and tail, a grey five o'clock shadow and a silver airship for a Cutie Mark, glowered at the new airliner with growing contempt. Where many had seen this flying behemoth as the symbol of a new era in passenger aviation, all he could see was a smug, overgrown upstart, and not out of mere scepticism either – in his case, it was pure jealousy over a plane that, in his mind, should only have been the second such aircraft to enter service. Ever since it had been shown off for the first time in front of an admiring crowd at Foalborough, the mere mention of its name – of its creator, even – left a sour taste in his mouth.
“So,” he muttered to himself, “the famous Constellations are still the talk of the world, are they?” With a bitter sneer, he watched as Sir Geoffrey spoke proudly to the millions of watchers about the life story of his company, and of the Constellations' development. “Curse that stuck-up de Hoofilland! Thinking he's all the better than me just because he's won the superliner race!”
Gritting his teeth, he gazed upon a set of blueprints on his desk, ignoring Sir Geoffrey as he outlined some of his most ambitious future projects, including a supersonic jet based on the Comet, his most ubiquitous airliner to date. “Twelve years I've been working on the Phantom – and yet he launches that flying sumo wrestler into service after only seven?! I should be the one reaping the rewards!” With an angry grunt, he picked up the telephone. “Get me Research and Development at once. Top priority.”
Over in another office a few blocks away, the telephone at the opposite end of the line alerted the attention of a bespectacled sunshine yellow Earth stallion who was reviewing a similar set of blueprints. His mane and tail were a greyish brown in colour, and his Cutie Mark was of a grey aircraft propeller with the tips of its four blades in red, while his attire consisted of a white shirt, a green business jacket and a purple bow tie. Anypony who happened to be in the same room as him would never have to look too hard to see how badly he suffered under his iron-hoofed boss; the barely noticeable streaks of white in his mane and the occasional tic in his small, weak eyes practically shouted it out for all the world. Nervously, he picked up the receiver and spoke into the microphone.
“Waylon Withers here, Head of Research and Development at McPommel Airliners Incorporated.”
“WITHERS!!!” bellowed the sharp tone of his superior through the speaker.
“Oh...uh, Professor McPommel, sir!” stuttered Withers, flinching slightly. “Uh...what can I do for you, sir?”
“How soon can you have the Phantom prototype in the air?!”
Withers gulped hard as he began rifling through his paperwork, trembling like a condemned prisoner awaiting execution. At last, he came across the very document he was looking for – and to his dismay, it didn't look very promising. “Um...I'm afraid we won't be flying it any time soon, sir,” he confessed uneasily. “We, er...we've still been having difficulties with the outer wing structure, and I don't really know how long it'll take to sort it out.”
“Well, get on with it then!!” barked McPommel. “We can't afford to dither about any longer, or else there won't be any demand left for the Phantom! And make sure you do it properly – I'm fed up to the back teeth with all these technical hitches!”
“Uh...yes, sir...” but before Withers could continue, a loud thud crackled through the speaker, followed almost instantly by the dialling tone. With a weary sigh, he rested the receiver back on its holder and turned his attention back to the drawings, trying to find a solution to the problem with the wings that he had just mentioned.
Back in his own office, McPommel let out a frustrated growl and slammed his hoof on the desk. “This is ridiculous!” he blurted out angrily. “At this rate, I'll never be able to compete with de Hoofilland and that misshapen blimp of his! Honestly, how is it that none of my staff know how to assemble an airliner properly?!”
But no sooner had those words escaped his lips than the germ of an idea started to implant itself in his memory. His eyes widened in realisation, and then a sly, fiendish grin spread across his face – maybe...just maybe, there was still the slightest chance...
“That ought to knock the wind out of de Hoofilland's wings,” he murmured as he turned back to his telephone...
A fanfare of trumpets echoed throughout the throne room at Canterlot Castle, where a huge crowd of dignitaries had gathered for a very special occasion. Under the watchful eye of Prince Shining Armour, the Royal Guards lined up either side of the red carpet that led up to the thrones of Princesses Celestia and Luna and stood to attention. As the doors slowly swung open, one of the equerries made the announcement that they had all been waiting for;
“His Imperial Excellency, the Ambassador of Saddle Arabia, Yehuda El Equuis.”
This was greeted by a second fanfare, at which point Shining Armour turned towards a younger, orange-coated Pegasus stallion stood next to him. “Okay, Lieutenant,” he prompted, “you know the drill.”
“Sure do, Cap...uh, Sire.” Playing off his faux-pas with an awkward grin, the younger stallion barked out the word of command; “Right, company – present arms!”
In one single movement, the twenty-six guardsponies all sloped their spears forwards as one, and Shining Armour and his lieutenant saluted as their foreign visitor entered. He was a kindly silver-white stallion, with pure gold bands on each leg, a V-shaped blue and purple breastplate, and a brown nose-band with a small bell hanging underneath. His white linen headgear extended all the way along his back, and he was carrying a jute saddlebag which contained all his diplomatic paperwork. Accompanying him was his attaché Sandhi Dunah, a slightly older dromedary camel in similar attire to his superior, though with the headgear replaced by a colourful silken saddle blanket on his hump, and no leg bands.
The two diplomats made their way across the throne room and stopped just before the royal alicorn sisters, whereupon Yehuda bowed graciously. “Honourable rulers of Equestria, Princesses Celestia and Luna, salaam,” he greeted them politely.
“Welcome to our kingdom, Your Excellency,” smiled Celestia warmly. “It's a real pleasure to be doing business with Arabia's latest ambassador.”
“Believe me, Your Highness, the pleasure is all mine,” replied Yehuda with a hearty smile of his own. “My people have always held the great kingdom of Equestria in high regard, and I myself am no exception – especially on this auspicious occasion.”
“Well then,” declared Celestia, turning to her unicorn scribe, “let's get down to business. Can we have the documents please, Raven Quill?”
The scribe bowed in response, producing a folder from his saddlebag, the front of which bore the words: “THE EQUESTRIAN/SADDLE ARABIAN OIL AGREEMENT”. Celestia then levitated the folder across to the ambassador; “If you would care to review the terms and conditions before signing the agreement, I'd be very much obliged,” she said.
Yehuda nodded respectfully and began to read through the folder, carefully scrutinising every detail of its contents as he progressed. The ensuing silence and stillness was only broken by the occasional murmur and nod of the head, until at last, after nearly a quarter of an hour, he closed the folder and looked up at the royal alicorn sisters.
“I trust that the conditions are satisfactory, are they not?” asked Luna.
“Very much so, Your Highness,” agreed Yehuda.
“Excellent,” said Celestia. “In that case, I just need your signature on the dotted line.”
“As you wish.” Taking a fountain pen from his diplomatic bag, Yehuda opened up the folder on its last page and wrote his name on the dotted line underneath the words; “I, the undersigned, hereby agree to the terms and conditions above.” That done, he handed the folder back to Celestia, who accepted it with a grateful nod. “Well, Your Highnesses, it's been an honour and a privilege to have been the one to settle this oil agreement between our nations. On behalf of my Sultan, and all our loyal subjects, I would like to thank you for your kind generosity.”
“No,” replied Celestia kindly, “thank you for letting us have a share of the oil. As I said not fifteen minutes ago, it's a real pleasure to do business with you.”
“You're very welcome. Farewell, Your Highnesses, and long may your nation prosper.”
“Long may yours,” smiled Celestia. “We hope you have a safe journey home.”
“Thank you once again, Your Highness.” With that, Yehuda turned and made his way out of the throne room to the sound of yet another trumpet fanfare, with Sandhi close behind. Shining Armour and his lieutenant saluted a second time, and as soon as the two Arabian diplomats had left the room, the dignitaries also began to file out.
“Company – slope arms!”
The guardsponies sloped their spears back against their shoulders.
“Fall out.”
Only then did the guardsponies relax their vigilance. Their important work over, they too headed out of the throne room leaving Shining Armour and the lieutenant alone with the princesses.
“How did I do, Sire?” asked the lieutenant hopefully.
“Pretty nicely for a first timer,” replied Shining Armour with a chuckle. “I've got to admit, Flash, when Princess Celestia requested for you to come up here and take charge of the Royal Guard for the day, I wasn't sure you'd be up for the job. Seems being second-in-command at the Castle of Friendship was even better for you than I first thought!”
“Yeah, I guess so,” mused Flash.
“I think you did really well, Lieutenant Sentry,” praised Celestia. “You've come a long way since you enlisted in the Third Crystal Empire Regiment, and I'm really pleased with you. I'm sure Princess Twilight will feel the same.”
“Oh...it was nothing really, Your Highness – just glad I could be of service,” replied Flash modestly. He then turned back to Shining Armour; “Now, about my vacation...”
“All taken care of – I've arranged for Lieutenant Spearhead to come down to Ponyville and stand in for you while you're away. Where were you planning on going anyhow?”
Flash grinned broadly. “I'll be spending the next two weeks in Abu Dhonki – maybe even get to see an air show while I'm there,” he announced.
“What, the capital of Saddle Arabia?”
“Yeah.”
“Lucky blighter!” chortled Shining Armour. “Never had the chance when I was just another guardspony. Speaking of which,” he added, assuming a straight face, “I've just remembered something. See, Princess Celestia had just yesterday advised me that Ambassador Yehuda could probably do with an aide-de-camp for his journey home. I was going to assign one of the Canterlot guards to the job, but since you're headed there anyway, I was just wondering if you could escort him yourself. Purely on an unofficial basis, most likely, seeing as you're...”
Flash was only too happy to agree. “Say no more, Prince Shining Armour,” he conceded. “I'd consider it a real honour.”
“Ah, good,” said Shining Armour. “I'm glad that settles it. I'll just go and run it past Celestia and the ambassador,” and he trotted off to make the arrangements.