//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Welcome Aboard? // Story: The Engineer’s Wings // by Keeper of time RD //------------------------------// After they had landed a brown pegasus stallion attached a tow-bar to Scootaloo’s airplane and guided it into one of the alcoves to the side of landing strip. Once parked she shut down the engine and he then went about attaching some tie-down cables to lock the plane in place. Only once the plane was fully secured did the stallion with the crescent moon cutie mark fly up and tap of the cockpit glass. And when it opened first he gave a welcoming smile, then an eyebrow raised in curiosity when he notice that all three occupants of the plane were only school-age fillies. “You’re the pilot?” he asked skeptically of the young pegasus in the pilot’s seat. “Yes. I am,” the orange filly answered him. Slowly the stallion started nodding his head. “Ohhh!” he said as if suddenly remembering something. “Right… Firestorm’s kid.” “You knew my dad?” “Not really,” he said with a shake of his head. “I’m just the equipment manager, I just take care of the planes around here. And your dad was more of a ‘just get the job done’ kind of pony, so when he did talk to other ponies, it was usually the other pilots, not me.” There was a moment of silence, then he added, “Anyway, the captain wanted me to tell you to sit tight, she’ll have somepony come deal with the package in a bit. So… yeah, just stay in the cockpit for now and somepony will come fetch you later. Probably once they’re done dealing with that mess outside.” The stallion started to move away, but was stopped by a question from Apple Bloom. “Who are those guys anyway? And why are ya fighting with them?” “From what I can tell, they’re griffin mercs. Not sure why anyone would pick a fight with the strongest military airship in the Equestrian fleet, but I can promise you they started this fight.” With that the equipment manger went back to tending his job. Scootaloo closed the cockpit back up. While the harnesses came off the cabin was too small to really do anything, and so the three fillies started engaging in idle chat while they waited. It didn’t take long before the Wonderbolt planes started landing and getting parked in their respective spots. The three fillies in the lone silver plane watched in awe as they did. Scootaloo even did her best to name each pilot as they came out of their airplanes. Although it turned out that there were several she didn’t know from her dad’s stories. “Oh wow! It’s Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo said, beaming, as a sky-blue mare with magenta eyes and a prismatic mane emerged from the most recently parked Lightning Bolt Mark 2. “Who’s that?” Sweetie Belle asked, innocently. “Who’s that? WHO’S THAT! She’s only the most amazing flyer both in and out of the cockpit EVER! My dad even told me that the whole reason they made the Mark 2’s was because she could out fly the Mark 1’s with her own wings! She even-” Scootaloo’s energetic introduction was cut short when she realized the pony she was praising wasn’t heading to a doorway in the side of the landing bay, but was heading over to the filly’s plane. Sure enough, when the light blue mare arrived, she tapped on the cockpit glass. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but giggle at the wonder-struck set of eyes looking back at her from inside. It took a good 3 seconds, but eventually Scootaloo realized she was supposed to open the cockpit. Suddenly finding herself fumbling over her own hooves, she popped the latch and pushed the cockpit open. The young pegasus meant to coolly say ‘hey,’ but after that embracing display all she managed was a goofy smile to greet the hero of her dad’s stories. For her part, Dash looked over the three fillies inside. She looked over the two in the back seat fairly casually. But she paused for a moment when taking in the sight of the orange pegasus with the pilot goggles in the front. “All right, squirts! Time to move out. You’ve got a delivery to finish. So come with me,” the mare commanded in a friendly tone. As they climbed out onto the wing of the plane, they found that somepony had left a ladder at the tail edge. This made climbing down to the floor much easier for the two fillies without wings. Although, even Scootaloo used the ladder too. Rainbow Dash quickly took the lead and guided the trio out of the landing bay and into the halls of the C.S. Cloudsdale, leading them down a hallway, a staircase up a floor, a long hallway, then a stairwell that went up three more floors. One final, short hallway after those and they finally reached the door that was the destination. Inside was the command deck. Of the twenty or so ponies gathered, five wore royal blue dress shirts that marked them as officers. Those five were either the captain or the pegasi at the four chairs at each of the workstations scattered about the room. The rest of the pegasi gathered wore the same pilot’s goggles and brown flight jackets as Rainbow Dash, and were lined up along the sides of the room, as out of the way as possible. Then there was the one standout. A white unicorn stallion with a two-tone blue mane, who wore purple armor with gold trim, was standing next to the captain of the Wonderbolts. His blue eyes locked onto the unicorn of the fillies, ignoring all else. Yet, other than that, he did nothing else but wait quietly. As for the captain of the Wonderbolts, she raised an eyebrow. “I was under the impression that we were only foalsitting one pony today,” she said, looking at the trio that had followed Dash in. Yet, Spitfire’s eyes lingered on the orange filly for a moment. And in that moment they showed a hint of recognition, along with something else that the young pilot couldn’t quite place. “I’m the courier, Scootaloo,” Scoots said. Then looking to her friend, she added, “And this is my… um… navigator! Apple Bloom.” “And I’m Sweetie Belle. The spirit key,” the young unicorn introduced herself while giving an elegant bow, yet adding no small amount of distaste to the way she said ‘spirit key.’ “I see,” Spitfire said. “Rainbow Dash, take Sweetie Belle here to the room we prepared for her. Then see these two back to their plane.” Then turning to look at the young pegasus, she added, “We’ll send word of your successful delivery. The telegraph should get back before you do. And if you need somepony to sign for it too, then Rainbow Dash can do that when she shows you out.” Scootaloo cringed at the realization that the Wonderbolts had only been dealing with Sweetie’s mother, and that Rarity’s request had been spur of the moment. Would the Wonderbolts even allow her to fulfill her contract? “That’s not going to happen.” Suddenly every eye in the room was on the orange filly. “I wasn’t just hired to bring Sweetie Belle here. I was hired to stay with her until she did her spirit key thing and bring her back to Ponyville. So I can’t leave yet.” If looks could kill, the unicorn beside her would not have survived the glare Spitfire gave him. He only shrugged and said, “I only arranged for the key to be brought here. If her family saw fit to arrange a round-trip ticket, I see no reason to get in the way of that.” A twitch appeared in Spitfire’s eye. She was clearly opposed to the idea of having more kids around her ship than absolutely necessary. “I can keep an eye on them,” Rainbow Dash offered. “Fine, but this isn’t a hotel. If they are staying, Sweetie Belle is going to have to share her room with them.” Then looking more directly at the two extra fillies, the captain of the Wonderbolts added, “And I expect you to stay out of our way. I have to tolerate Miss Belle, but there’s nothing stopping me from kicking you two off my ship the instant you cause any trouble. Are we clear?” “Yes ma’am!” both fillies answered. With that Rainbow Dash was given the go ahead to take the three fillies to the room that had originally been prepared for just one. Once the ‘guests’ had left the command room, a haunted look entered Spitfire’s eyes and she whispered to herself. “Why is this happening? That plane… That pony… How could they have hired her of all ponies? This can’t be coincidence.”