“I almost killed the princess, but it flies like a charm.”
Enterprise beamed as Cherry Berry gently landed the Pedal-Powered Propeller Pitcher - the P4 for short - next to her. The P4 was inspired by a contraption Pinkie Pie had mentioned in passing about a year ago (she had been forced to interrogate Pinkie's friend Rainbow Dash for further details, which had been… frustrating), but while the idea might not be entirely original, Enterprise had optimized the design. Seeing her work come into fruition like this made Enterprise feel almost as alive as flying herself did.
“It looked very stable from the ground, too, during the bits I could see,” she said. “How were the pedals?”
“Pedal-y,” Cherry replied, deadpan. When Enterprise raised an eyebrow, she continued, “They were alright. Not too heavy, but not light either.”
Enterprise telekinetically lifted her notepad and quill, writing down Cherry’s findings.
Pedals can be made lighter.
Enterprise didn't doubt that they could. If a unicorn and an earth pony could fly in heavy hunks of metal, anything could be done if somepony just put their mind to it. The real question was whether she was good enough at what she did to make it happen.
“Balance?” she prompted.
“Balanced.”
“Steering?”
“It veered a little to the left, but nothing you can't fix with a few adjustments to the steering wheel.”
Adjust steering wheel. “Lift?”
“Went up and down smoothly.”
Enterprise nodded; she had been able to see that from the outside. “Forward drive?”
“A little slow, maybe.”
“Diet?”
“Oats and--” Finally, Cherry’s detached composure broke into a look of confusion. “...diet?”
Enterprise snickered, then put away the notepad and pulled her goggles down over her eyes. “Alright, my turn!”
“Why didn't you just add multiple seats?” Cherry asked while climbing down.
“Balance. I thought it might fly differently with and without a passenger, and take more treading to get lift. I should look into that, though.”
“Fair enough.”
Once Cherry was out of the way, Enterprise lifted herself telekinetically into the single seat of the P4.
Not many unicorns could lift themselves like that, Enterprise knew. Normally you had to be either a baby - meaning you were light and prone to magical surges - or an incredibly powerful, magically gifted unicorn. Enterprise was neither. But what she did have was a helpful cutie mark. Most unicorns’ magic was based on their special talent, and hers was flight and the creation of ways to fly. And so she was able to fly short distances using her flight-based magic.
It was a perverse point of pride for Enterprise. As far as she knew, even the pretty purple princess, with her cutie mark in magic and enough power to lift an ursa minor with her telekinesis, hadn't been powerful enough to do that before she got her wings. Even with alicorn magic, she might still not be powerful enough, but it was harder to tell when she had wings to use instead. Enterprise hoped she was right. It would be one thing the princess didn't have.
Enterprise didn't know what Pinkie Pie saw in Twilight Sparkle. The mare was an insufferable, privileged know-it-all with a talent for doing whatever she wanted with magic and no effort, and that's the pony Princess Celestia chose to be the fourth alicorn princess? That's who got wings out of nowhere?
Suddenly Enterprise realized she was already high up in the sky. Thinking about the princess had irritated her, made her almost gallop on the pedals. She took a moment to collect herself, and lowered the P4 to a more reasonable altitude.
Which was still pretty high up. Enterprise looked down, and even the weather pegasi looked like ants below her. The sight helped Enterprise calm down. This was where she was meant to be.
~ * ~
Enterprise landed the Pedal-Powered Propeller Pitcher right where she had started. Cherry Berry sat there, the notepad and quill lying in front of her on the ground.
“What was that all about?” Cherry asked. “I was prepared to take notes on the ascent, but you just shot up there, and then I didn't even see you again until you came in for the landing!”
“I just got a little carried away,” Enterprise replied, smiling.
“Uh-huh.”
“So,” Enterprise began, her smile turning wry, “what's this about almost killing the princess?”