//------------------------------//
// Chapter 22: Back to Ponyville, Dreams Take Flight, and......Cutie-Marks? (Part 1) 
// Story: Bermuda Beginnings 
// by ScarFox9700 
//------------------------------//

Sure enough, the next morning, at about 8:00am, Taylor woke up. Snuggled up next to him like she had been since the very first night, was Nurse Redheart. Taylor didn't move, as he didn't want to wake her up yet, but he still admired her beauty. 

"Gosh, she's really cute when she's asleep", Taylor thought. Deep down inside, he had a feeling that perhaps maybe, just maybe, he and Redheart were ultimately destined for each other. "It's possible, I suppose", he thought to himself. "Now, I just wonder what the Equestrian customs on dating are. I'm fairly certain that she would say yes, but how would that go?" 

Taylor was uncertain, and he wasn't sure who to ask about it. He decided to put his thoughts on hold for the time being, because for the moment, he had to focus on his plane, and the test flight planned for that day. He began to make the move to get up, and that caused Redheart to stir. 

"Mmm, hey Honey", she whispered. "Good morning." 

"Good morning Sweetheart." 

"Hey, that's pronounced, 'Redheart'!" she giggled, punching Taylor playfully. 

"Hey, I'm sorry. I was just trying to be intimate. Geez!" Taylor tried to be stern, but failed miserably, "What's up with you?" 

Redheart rolled her eyes smiling. "Well, nothing, I guess. So is today the day that you're going to attempt flight again?" 

Taylor nodded. "Yep. It is." 

"Are you nervous?" 

"Uh huh. The first time doing anything is nerve-wracking, but the worst is doing something a second time after the first time ended in an accident that caused a lot of reconstruction. Now everything's untested, and there's still so much uncertainty." 

Taylor sat on the edge of the bed, and Redheart got up, and hugged him from behind. 

"Mmm, I know that it must be hard for you Taylor, but just remember," Here she began to rub Taylor's shoulders gently, as well as plant a few gentle kisses on his neck, "I'm always here for you, and I'll always love you." 

"Always?" Taylor whispered. 

"Yes, always. I know that it hasn't been very long for us yet, but ever since that very first day, I felt love. You were the first male to really notice me, stallion or otherwise, and I knew that you were special. It may take a bit more time, but give it a while, and you and I could be growing old together." 

Taylor thought about that. "Yeah, you may be on to something Miss Redheart. I guess that only time will tell, but I'm all for us being a thing if you are." 

Redheart sighed happily. "Nothing in all of Equestria would make me happier than to spend my life with you Taylor." 

Taylor turned his head, and maybe was about to kiss Redheart, but he was sadly interrupted. 

"Aww, that's so sweet!" 

Both of them immediately jerked their heads towards the door to Taylor's room, and to their shock, there stood Nurse Starlight!

"Starlight!" Redheart scolded, "How long have you been standing there?!" 

Starlight smirked. "Not too long. Just long enough to hear a beautiful heart to heart conversation though. And if you were wondering, yes, I think that you two would make the perfect couple." 

"You really think so?" Taylor asked.

Starlight nodded. "I know so, Mr. Taylor. Also, I was told by one of Princess Celestia's servants to come and see if you were awake, as she said that it was time to begin the moving of your plane to Ponyville." 

Taylor looked at the clock next to his bed. The time read 8:13am. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Just give me a chance to get ready, and I'll head down to the workshop." 

Redheart got up from the bed as well. "Yeah, and I do need to get ready as well. I'll meet you down at the workshop Taylor." 

Taylor nodded. "Ok Miss Redheart, see you then!" 





By about 9:00 or so, after Taylor was ready, and a light breakfast had been eaten, Taylor once again found himself inside of the Basement Workshop. He was accompanied by the Airplane 8, Redheart, Starlight, and Princess Celestia. In the middle of the room, stood the plane, all gassed up, and ready to go. 

"Um, Princess, I have a question." 

"What is it Mr. Taylor?"

"Um, how are we going to get this plane out of here? And for that matter, how did you even get it in here? The doors aren't big enough to fit it through, and I don't see any other way out." 

Celestia pointed to the back of the room. "It's difficult to see, but at the back, there are two doors that fold open to a service corridor. That's how it was brought down here, and that's how we'll get it out of here again." 

Taylor nodded. "Yeah, but the first thing that we'll have to do is fold the wings against the body, so as to make the plane as narrow as possible for transport." 

"How do we do that?' Celestia asked.

"I'll show you." Taylor then climbed into the cockpit, and once everypony was clear, he flipped a few switches, and with an audible whirring sound, the plane's wings lifted straight up, and then folded back neatly against the body.

"That was pretty impressive Taylor", Redheart commented, "But quick question. You folded the wings in, but how are you going to get down now? And why do the wings fold up like that?" 

"First of all, I get down like I always do." Taylor then revealed that the part of the wing that the pilot walks on to get up to the cockpit was still accessible, as only part of the wings folds against the plane body. "And to answer your second question, the wings fold up like this so as to allow a number of these planes to be stored in a smaller space. It's a space saving method." 

Redheart nodded. "Oh, that makes sense." 

Once Taylor was back on the ground again, Celestia opened the doors at the back of the workshop, revealing the service tunnel behind it. 

"How do we move the plane now?" One of the engineers asked. 

"We roll it." Taylor answered. "Despite it's seemingly massive size, these things can be rolled along a flat, even surface easily enough. There's enough of us, plus enough unicorn magic, so we should be able to move it." 

Everypony nodded, and with the greatest of care, they all grabbed hold of either the fixed wings, (the part of the wings that don't fold up, but remain attached to the body) or the fuselage, and with care, they began to roll the plane forwards. After a lot of pushing, the all finally managed to get the plane out of the service tunnel, through another sort of hallway, and out into the castle courtyard. Here they all took a quick breather as they contemplated how they were going to get it to the railway station for transport to Ponyville. 

As they were all standing there though, the plane began to attract quite a crowd. Everypony from castle staff, to tourists, to even a few guards; all of them came to see the plane up close. 

"Whoa, what is this thing?" Somepony asked. 

"Is it some kind of new prototype, or invention?" 

"It's neither of those things", Taylor answered. "This, is my TBF Avenger aircraft, designation TF-28. Also called 'Blue 1'. It was the plane that I flew in to get here. Only now, instead of being a wreck, it has just recently been fully restored to flying condition once more." 

"So it can fly again?" 

"That I'm not sure on. However, in the fields of Ponyville today, I'm going to be performing a flight test to see if this plane really can fly." 

"Today?! In Ponyville?! When?!" 

Taylor nodded. "Yep. In Ponyville. And as soon as we can get it down there, I guess." 

The crowd then thinned a bit as Ponies began to flock to get to the train station. 

Celestia began to get slightly annoyed with the crowds. "Well, I certainly appreciate the enthusiasm from everypony, but if we can't get this plane to the train station, then no flight test will be taking place at all!" She then looked around for the nearest guard. "Guard?" 

"Yes, My Princess?" 

"Who's company are you a part of?" 

"I'm a member of Iron Company, led by Captain Strong Armor." 

Celestia nodded. "Yes, well please go tell Captain Armor, that his, and his company's assistance is needed here immediately with crowd control, as well as soon to be needed in Ponyville." 

The guard was surprised. "Why, what's going on?" 

Celestia pointed to the plane, and all of the ponies crowding around it.

"Yes, I'll go get Captain Armor, and the rest of my company immediately!" 





"All right folks, you all need to move along!" Tinker ordered, "There's nothing more to see here! If you want to see more, then you'll have to go to Ponyville!" 

While Tinker and Iron Company directed traffic and provided security, Taylor and the engineers began to roll the plane away from the castle, and through the streets of Canterlot. As they continued to roll it along, ponies still lined the streets on both sides, watching in awe. 

Finally, after pushing for nearly an hour, they finally arrived at the Canterlot Train Station. Sure enough, the train was waiting for them, along with two surprises for Taylor. The first came in the form of All Aboard.

"Hey, Taylor!" 

"Hey, All Aboard! It's nice to see you!" 

"And nice to see you too Mr. Taylor. Let me guess, this is your metal craft, and you need to get to Ponyville for a test flight?" 

Taylor nodded. "Yeah, how did you know?" 

All Aboard smiled. "Princess Celestia told me. She said to expect a large crowd, as well as you, and your metal craft. And I know what you must be thinking. 'But my plane is so big! It won't fit in a coach! How am I ever going to get it to Ponyville?' Well, luckily for you, I have the solution!" 

He pointed towards the back of the train, and there, just in front of the caboose, was a large gondola freight car.

"Whoa, where did that come from?" 

All aboard smiled. "Well, from time to time we do have to haul freight, and we have to be ready to haul anything, big or small, but this will be the first time in Equestrian Railway history that we've ever carried a machine from another planet!" 

Taylor smiled. "Well then Al, I'm glad that Blue 1 will be the first other-worldly machine carried by a train here in Equestria. And I'm also glad that you're the train's conductor today. I mean, just think of the story that you'll be able to tell your kids and grand-kids some day!" 

All Aboard smiled. "Yeah, you're right Mr. Taylor! Anyway, we do have a schedule to keep, so if everypony could get everything loaded up, then we can get you all to Ponyville as fast as possible! All aboard!" 

With help from the engineers who were unicorns, as well as several unicorns in Iron Company, including Tinker himself, Taylor's plane was gently picked up, and moved over to the gondola car before being gently lowered onto it. Once it was sitting securely on the car, cables were procured, and the plane was tied down tightly to the car. After a few quick tests to make sure that everything was still stable, they were ready to go.

"Next stop, Ponyville! All aboard!" 

Taylor and a few of the guards helped get all of the luggage on board the train, and once Princess Celestia, the two nurses, the Airplane 8, Iron Company, Taylor, and everypony else who was going to Ponyville was in their seats, the train ride began.