July 5th, 1000 Domina Solaria
Applejack looks over her wagon full of wooden planks, courtesy of Burnt Oak, then to her herdmate. "Are ya sure about this, Rainbow? Seems like a mighty tall order. Especially with those four involved."
"Are you foaling me?" exclaims Rainbow Dash, the pegasus throwing her hooves into the air, nearly knocking off her ball cap as the whistle around her neck flies up. "Who built a ramp for Scootaloo's scooter? Me. Who is going to use this design for her awesome new trick? Me. Who-"
"Okay, okay, Ah get it." Applejack sighs, "You sure you don't want my help, or Big Mac's, or Doug's? It sounds like a pretty big job, since you're gonna be using this much wood and all."
Rainbow Dash puts a reassuring hoof on Applejack's withers, solemnly nodding her head. "We got this, Applejack. Trust me?"
"Ah trust you, Rainbow, that ain't the issue." Applejack motions over to Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Applebaum. The four fillies are scampering around, super excited about the upcoming project. "It's them Ah'm worried about. You sure you can keep up with all four on your own?"
"Please, Applejack." Rainbow Dash blows on her whistle, two short bursts. The fillies immediately stop and line up, sitting obediently and looking to Rainbow for instruction with bright smiles on their radiant little faces. "See?"
Applejack rolls her eyes, "Yeah, they're little angels, all right." She looks over at the scaffold design. "Also seems like a lot of effort to put in to something that's just going to be used for the start of one trick."
"That's the best part!" Rainbow says, pulling out the design plans she has scribbled down. "The town hall and clock tower both need some pretty heavy duty repairs after that attack a few years back. So we can use this scaffolding afterwards to help with those repairs!"
"Sure," Applejack says, her tone saying anything but. "Well, Ah'll leave y'all to your thing. Gotta get back to getting the orchard ready. Ah'm sure to beat Big Mac this year, and maybe even go for the Equestrian record!" Applejack lets loose a contented smile as she envisions herself solo harvesting the most apples in one week, "Have fun, and stay safe!"
As soon as Applejack disappears from sight the trio rushes over to the tools. Apple Bloom grabs a hammer, Sweetie Belle a hack saw, while Scootaloo groans, "Where's the chainsaw?"
Applebaum glances at the papers, her muzzle quickly turning to a frown, then a scowl. "Was your plan to tip this tall part over and have it land on the seesaw?"
Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes, motioning to what can charitably be referred to as blueprints. "Weren't you listening? I was going to build a scaffold, and this seesaw, and have Big Mac climb up the scaffold. Then, he jumps off the top, landing on this 'x'." Rainbow scribbles over the blueprints, Applebaum facehoofing, "Then, I get launched into the air, faster than I can take off on my own! Once I'm in the air, I'm going to do some amazing flips and spins! It's gonna be great!"
Applebaum points a hoof at the scaffold drawing, "How tall is this?"
Rainbow glances down, "Thirty feet or so. Why?"
"So, Big Mac is gonna jump down thirty feet, and his greater mass, let's say four times yours, is gonna launch you into the air." Applebaum raises an eyebrow, eerily similar to her dam. "That about right?"
"Yup! And I'll be able to leap off at the same time, and the boost is going to rocket me into the air!" Rainbow scribbles a couple more loops onto the paper, smiling at the resulting mess.
Applebaum squats down, swiping the blue crayon from Rainbow Dash and saying to herself, "So, if Big Mac jumps from thirty feet... let's see..."
"Pretty awesome, am I right?" Rainbow Dash says with a smile, though her interest quickly fades as Applebaum doesn't respond.
"Or," Applebaum continues as she scribbles a little more, muttering to herself, "thirty two times thirty times four times two... square root..."
Rainbow Dash drops down, cocking her head at the numbers, "What's that?" Sweetie Belle walks up behind her while Apple Bloom and Scootaloo grunt at each other, wrestling over who gets the hammer and who has to hold the nails.
Applebaum motions to the equations, "Ah asked Miss Cheerilee for a book on physics. You know Mister Rich, right? Well, we got to chatting about the company that dug out the hill for the Carrot House. He says Ah might be able to get, an, um, an inter-ship with them!"
"Internship," corrects Sweetie Belle. Rainbow Dash glances over, a deadpan stare at the know-it-all.
Applebaum smiles at the correction, "Yup! That's it. And so he introduced me to Dozer, one of the ponies that did a lot of the digging. He told me about the kinds of work they do, and what kinda schoolin' you need to be an engineer. And if Ah can pass one of their entry exams, they'll take me on and show me the ropes!"
"Aren't you a little young to start working?" says Rainbow Dash, though her gaze keeps drifting to the wood, to the drawing she made, and then to the sky, daydreaming about the awesome tricks she'll pull off.
Applebaum snorts, "Daddy's just lucky Ah haven't burned the house down yet. With this thing kickin' me in the flank every day Ah go to bed without doing something with it?" Applebaum motions to her cutie mark, the exploding apple pieces looking particularly menacing. She snorts, "Ah gotta do something with the ideas it tells me. So Ah stay up late making diagrams and drawings. Sometimes it's force diagrams, or maybe what'll happen to a building if one of the supports gets removed. Or how much weight a bridge can support before it breaks." She sighs before returning to her calculations, muttering, "And those are the tame ones."
"Well, I'm sure Doug would agree that burning the house down is not a good option," Rainbow says, not having paid attention to anything else Applebaum said.
"Yeah. Reading the books helps out a lot. Ah'd complain about it, but it's a lot of fun now that Ah'm getting into some of the more interesting parts!" Applebaum beams up at Rainbow Dash, her smile fading at Rainbow's blank look. She sighs, "So, to put it another way. Big Mac jumps off that platform, hitting the lever. And he'll be hitting the ground at thirty miles an hour." Applebaum frowns, "That'll hurt, but it's doable, Ah guess, if he lands on all four hooves."
"Yeah, he's a tough cookie, he can take it," Rainbow Dash says excitedly, stretching her legs. "What happens to me?"
"You get launched into the air at about sixty miles per hour." Applebaum frowns, tapping the crayon against the sheet.
"Wait, that's it?" Rainbow says, yanking the paper and staring at the figures, the numbers swimming together. "Are you sure?"
"Pretty sure," Applebaum says with a shrug. "Ah mean, it ain't exact or nothing, within ten percent or so. Is that really worth it? Ah thought you flew way faster than that."
"Oh ya, I'm way faster than a measly sixty miles per hour!" Rainbow snorts, shaking her head. "Back when I was a filly, I performed a sonic rainboom! Do you know how fast you have to go to perform one?"
"Um," Applebaum stutters.
"Seven hundred and sixty seven miles per hour!" shouts Scootaloo as she jumps up.
"How in the hay do you know that?" Apple Bloom asks, rubbing her head.
"Um, no reason," Scootaloo says, sinking back down. At Apple Bloom's continued stare she says, "I, um, got curious after one of dam's stories about performing it. And so I asked Miss Cheerilee, and she had me write a letter to a bunch of eggheads in Canterlot, and they wrote me back with the answer."
"And you memorized it? Talk about her biggest fan." Apple Bloom says with a shake of her head. "Now who's the egghead?"
"Her." Scootaloo says with finality, pointing at Applebaum. The two snicker, Applebaum turning and glaring at her older sisters.
"Quiet, girls!" Rainbow Dash commands, stomping a hoof. She turns back to Applebaum as the two quiet down, "Yeah, so, normal flying I might do only, like, one hundred miles per hour or so. Burning thaums?" She shakes her head, "Now they've got me talking like an egghead." She sighs, "Anyway, if I'm going as fast as I can? I used to do about seven hundred miles per hour, sustained for ten seconds. Seven twenty on my best days." Another sigh as Rainbow glances at Scootaloo, "Still recovering a bit from, um, before, but I can still pull off about six fifty no problem." Rainbow's face falls, scuffing at the dirt.
"That's still really fast!" Applebaum says, trying to lift Rainbow's spirits. "Ah bet this trick'll work out great!"
"Yeah!" Rainbow exclaims, smirking at the drawings. "So, how much higher would Big Mac need to be so I go even faster? Like, a hundred miles an hour?"
Applebaum stammers for a second, "Um, about a hundred feet or so. Ah think he'd have trouble surviving that."
"Wait, really? Not, like, fifty feet? You sure?" Rainbow sighs, shaking her head and answering herself, "Nah, you're probably right. I'll have to see what I can do with that, but it'll still be pretty cool."
"Can we start yet?" Scootaloo moans, having won the wrestling match for the hammer.
Rainbow stands up, motioning to the wood, "Okay, girls, let's get this flight in the sky!"
Three hours later, Rainbow Dash and Applebaum hammer the last of the wooden boards together. The tower is laying on its side, two long pillars with struts along the middle, a ladder secured to the side. The base is ready for the top to be hoisted together, a rough pulley system rigged nearby. A few ponies are standing around, watching the construction process.
Rainbow Dash wipes the sweat from her brow, "Whew! That was a lot of work!" She glances over to Applebaum, "Thanks for sticking it out with me." She offers a hoof, Applebaum tiredly huffing as she returns the bump. Rainbow glances over to Applejack and Big Mac, sheepishly smiling, "And, um, thanks for taking over on the trio for me."
Applejack nods, the two earth ponies strapped to ropes, "Heh, Ah tried to tell ya, but you didn't listen." She motions with her head to the scaffold, "You ready?"
"Let's do this!" Rainbow grins, slapping Applejack on the flank.
Applejack rolls her eyes as she and Big Mac pull, hoisting the scaffold up and into position. Rainbow Dash flies to the top, helping steady the unstable tower as Applebaum slots in a few large bolts along the bottom. The base is now holding the scaffold in place, at least temporarily, and Applejack strips out of her harness; she moves over to assist Applebaum, making sure everything is secure. Rainbow Dash and Big Mac dismantle the pulleys, removing the ropes from the structure.
Rainbow cheers as she flies up to the top, glancing down at the platform below. The large red 'x' looms tantalizingly close, a sliver of drool dripping from Rainbow's open mouth. She can see even more ponies gathering around; she waves down at Big Mac, yelling, "You ready for this?"
"Nnope!"
"Aww, come on!" Rainbow shouts, flying down and landing next to Big Mac. "Come on, big guy. Just the one time!"
"Nnope."
"Yeah," Rainbow says, her tone changing completely and becoming sad, almost apologetic. "I agree. It is too tall. Nopony could make a jump like that."
Big Mac rolls his eyes.
Rainbow Dash nods, an unhappy sigh before she says, "Actually, wait. Didn't Granny Smith do something like this?" She lifts a hoof to block out the sun, squinting as she gazes up at the scaffold. "Yeah! I know Applejack showed me a picture of it once. Little old Granny Smith, jumping into tiny buckets of water." Rainbow mournfully sighs as she shakes her head, though she can't force a tear from her eye, "Too bad you aren't as cool as Granny Smith. I guess we'll just go push this over to the clock tower, since I won't get to use it."
Rainbow Dash takes a hesitant step forward as Big Mac halts her with a hoof to her flank. "Ah know what you're doing, Rainbow."
"Great!" Rainbow says with a cheeky grin. "So, you ready to get up there and do this?"
Big Mac stares at Rainbow Dash for a second before a heavy sigh escapes his lips. "Eeyup." Big Mac walks up to the ladder, turning and looking down at Applebaum. "You sure about this?"
"It won't break apart if that's what you mean." Applebaum sighs, rubbing one hoof against another, "But, um, as far as the jumping part?" She stands on her hind legs, whispering in his ear, "Don't jump. Okay?"
Big Mac smiles down, "Don't worry, 'Baum." He grunts as he climbs the ladder, the sway back and forth getting more pronounced as he gets higher. Big Mac nervously stands on the top, staring down at the platform far underneath him. He takes a deep breath, waiting the agonizingly long seconds as he looks around, a large crowd of ponies now gathering around the scaffolding.
"Rainbow Dash, you be careful now. Got it?" Applejack says as she looks up to Rainbow, then to Big Mac. "You got this, Big Mac!" she yells, stomping her hooves, the surrounding ponies quickly joining in.
Rainbow Dash, now waiting on the other end of the seesaw with barely restrained excitement, looks up and locks eyes with Big Mac. "I'm ready!"
"Eeyup!" Big Mac yells, jumping off the wobbling scaffolding. He thinks, during the one and a half seconds he free falls, that he likes having his hooves on the ground.
Big Mac hits the slanted platform with his hind hooves first, a sickening crack as Rainbow Dash is catapulted into the air.