//------------------------------// // Chapter One - "Hard Landings and Cold Trails!" // Story: The Mare of Tomorrow // by Eh //------------------------------// The Mare of Tomorrow Ponyville The barn doors slid open slowly. The Cutie Mark Crusaders pushed them wide open and let the sweet sunshine into the old dusty barn. These old barns were incredibly common on the Sweet Apple Acres orchard. Though the Apple family are attentive to detail, there usually is one barn that manages to slip past their radar. This one in particular rested on a steep hill near the older apple trees back when Ponyville was founded. Applejack had scheduled this barn in particular to be demolished once she had returned from Los Pegasus. "Alrighty now! Bring 'er out!" Apple Bloom shouted. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle ran inside. With the full, unstoppable, determined might that two school-age fillies could muster, they pushed Apple Bloom's project out. It was made from the spare wood of fallen trees, was shaped like a can with a ruler thrown through it and was painted an incredibly loud orange. Applebloom was proud of it however, for it was her first airplane. Painted on its side was the Cutie Mark Crusader Emblem and in bright white words: "Cutie Mark Crusaders Aviators!" It wasn't like most planes which were rare enough in Equestria: it was small, foal sized even, and the propeller and engine were situated at the tail with the tail fin situated on the bottom. Given the light weight of the plane, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had little trouble pushing it out of the barn. They stopped just outside the doors and reported to Apple Bloom. The trio already had donned their flight uniforms: flying helmets, goggles, and jackets. However, only one could actually fit in the open air cockpit. "So who gets to fly?" Scootaloo said. The trio looked back and forth between each other with varying amounts of confusion. "I know!" Sweetie Belle quickly pulled out a coin. "There are three of us," Apple Bloom quickly said. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. "Haven't you ever heard of process of elimination? Scootaloo and me first. I pick heads!" She flipped the coin into the air. It landed back on her hoof, tails side. Sweetie wiped some sweat off her brow and sighed in relief. It was down to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, both of whom were just bouncing at the prospect of first flight. Scootaloo picked heads and up the coin went. It ended with tails. "Woohoo!" Apple Bloom jumped for joy straight into the cockpit. The excited filly quickly began strapping herself in with belts scavenged from Rarity's trashbin. She also quickly checked the gauges also recycled from blenders, toasters, and other instruments. In a fit of brilliance, Apple Bloom had also fashioned an altimeter out of a thermometer. She brought the goggles down over her eyes. She said, "Alright, Crusaders! Take her up!" Sweetie Belle ran down to the propeller. She prepared a start up spell with her horn. As the power gathered, she struggled and strained but after a minute of full concentration, she zapped the propeller. The engine, made out of old trashcans and gears, was primed. Scootaloo quickly ran up and span the propeller. After a full turn, it began spinning under its own power. The engine sputtered and roared like a sick lion. Scootaloo ran up to the cockpit. "You're good to go! Remember, hit the ramp at 100 miles an hour or you'll stall! The ailerons will shake a bit, but don't fight it, just adjust accordingly!" "Anything else?" Apple Bloom said. "Yeah! A little luck!" Scootaloo stuck her hoof in her mouth and stuffed it into Apple Bloom's. Now in Apple Bloom's mouth was a wad of Beemane's Pepsin Gum. Apple Bloom chewed it cautiously, it tasted like honey and Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo ran out as the plane began taxiing out. Under its own power, the plane rolled towards the makeshift runway: a dirt road that went down a steep drop in the hill and ended with a ramp pointed into the air. Apple Bloom kept the throttle low and inched the plane over the crest of the hill. The engine coughed as the plane angled down the hill and began picking up speed. Scootaloo and Sweetie sat watching the scene, practically biting their hooves as Apple Bloom raced down the hill towards the ramp. "Oh! I can't watch!" Sweetie Belle covered her eyes. "I sure can!" Scootaloo munched on some apple slices intently. Apple Bloom was being forced back in her seat as she set the throttle to maximum speed. She briefly pondered as to why anypony would think taxiing a plane down a hill and up a ramp would be a good idea. Then she remembered it was her idea. She minced an oath under her breath. The plane continued picking up speed. The speedometer, which used to be one of Pinkie Pie's clocks, read Party Time at the 3 O'clock position. Apple Bloom had no idea what this meant so she hoped to Celestia it was 100 miles per hour. She closed the distance with the wooden ramp she had built, her only assurance that it wouldn't collapse or anything. In a brief second, the plane hit the ramp and blasted upwards. "She's flying!" Scootaloo hovered in glee. Sweetie opened her eyes and did the same as well. They cried out at Apple Bloom flying away in joy. Apple Bloom looked down at the ground, unable to suppress her excitement. She kept the plane steady at a safe height over the trees. The cool winds blew past her and all she could hear was the whistle of the air and the purring engine. Something clicked in Apple Bloom. Sure, she was happy with her family back on good old Terra Firma on the orchard, but there was something about flying. Even though her ramshackle plane could barely get above tree top level, she felt like she could go anywhere out into the wild blue yonder. She angled the plane upwards into the sky. *** Spike ran as fast as his stubby legs could allow. His pace however was marred by having to keep his eyes on the sky for Apple Bloom's plane and on the road ahead. He had already gotten a wagon overturned and ran into several poles on the way. It was going to be a good day for Spike however. He had only heard of the theory of heavier-than-air flight a little over a year ago. Even Twilight dismissed the theory as redundant thanks to pegasi and airships. Now, planes were becoming a common sight over the skies of Los Pegasus and Applewood. Apple Bloom's plane was that mark that planes would soon become common all over Equestria. "Scootaloo!" Spike shouted. He found the Cutie Mark Crusaders minus Apple Bloom dashing around on Scootaloo's scooter. "Is she already up there? Is she flying?" "Sure is! The plane's keeping steady for now, once she lands we'll know for sure if she gets that cutie mark!" Scootaloo looked up at the sky. Overhead, Apple Bloom's plane looked merely like a bird. The roar of the propeller was loud and behind the tail fin was a streaking white cloud. Spike looked over at the Crusaders incredulously. "Wait, you guys built a plane just to get a cutie mark?" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nodded with smug grins on their faces. Sweetie Belle said, "Rarity always tells me, 'never do something simply when you can do it in style.'" Scootaloo rolled her eyes and said, "yeah, that sounds just like her." Sweetie pouted at Scootaloo's remark and turned her attention back towards the sky. Already a crowd was gathering, either amazed, confused, or terrified by this flying machine racing over the town. Scootaloo's previous smug expression changed to one of worry however as the plane was now visibly descending at a sharp angle. Sweetie Belle tilted her head. "Uh, is she supposed to be going down like that?" Her question was immediately answered by the propeller suddenly stopping. The plane was now dropping like a pile of bricks with the nose about to hit the ground. Scootaloo quickly jumped up in the air, screaming at Apple Bloom to pull up. As if Apple Bloom really heard her, the plane pulled out of the dive in a wide arc and screamed past the crowd over their heads. Everypony who valued their lives immediately ran for it in different directions. Not the Cutie Mark Crusaders plus Spike however. "She's headed for the Everfree Forest!" Scootaloo immediately revved her wings. She took off down the road following the plane with Sweetie and Spike in tow. The plane now was relying on sheer speed to keep it flying, but even that wouldn't last as long as the plane flew precariously over the buildings of Ponyville. What's worse, the irregular dive knocked some sense out of Apple Bloom, for she was flying upside down. Scootaloo shouted up at the plane. "Apple Bloom! What happened!? Why's the propeller stopped!?" Apple Bloom continued looking forward. "Scoots! Can't you see I'm flying here!? How should I know!?" Up ahead, the Town Hall was standing in the way of the plane. Apple Bloom pushed downwards on the control stick and sent the plane angling upwards over it. With her brief burst of altitude, she turned the plane to the right orientation. Scootaloo meanwhile burnt rubber racing around the town hall in pursuit. Scootaloo said to her passengers, "don't worry! As long as she maintains that altitude, she'll just hit the plains between the forest and the town!" Sweetie Belle took a quick look around, then worriedly looked up at Scootaloo. "Um. Scootaloo. Isn't Fluttershy's house in this direction?" "Oh. I forgot about that." The plane was descending downwards ever so gradually and they were already hitting the outskirts of town. The occasional tree and the random shack were the only things Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were racing past. Fluttershy's home however, was in sight. Apple Bloom prepared to make a turn right but a sudden jolt and a loud tearing shook her. She worriedly looked around to see if she had hit something. Scootaloo screamed, "the tail rudder's gone!" A tree had clipped the tail rudder situated on the bottom of the plane. Without it, the plane was now helplessly careening towards the cottage. Apple Bloom rolled the plane left, but she was far too low and too late. The left wing sheared off as it grazed the ground. The plane spun in and with a loud boom, tore right into Fluttershy's cottage. Scootaloo braked hard right in front of the little bridge over the stream. The two crusaders stepped off and gazed upon the wreckage. The cottage had been halved by the impact. One side would be relatively fine if it weren't for the fact that it was on fire. The other side was nothing but rubble. The plane rested in several pieces, burning and smoldering inside of the cottage. Birds, squirrels, mice and all other kinds of animals were dispersing in different directions screaming in their natural tongue. Apple Bloom was nowhere to be seen. Scootaloo nor Sweetie Belle found themselves at a loss for words. The tears were streaming down their faces. Spike shook his head as he walked up next to them. They stared at the wreckage for a minute. There simply wasn't anything to do at this point. Sweetie Belle finally wiped the tears from her eyes and said, "Apple Bloom..." A low groan responded from the stream. Knocked back into their senses, the Crusaders plus Spike turned to look into the stream. Lying in a heap of belts, frogs and lily pads was Apple Bloom. The Crusaders squealed in delight as they mobbed her with extreme force, catching her in a big hug. Apple Bloom was gibbering incoherently, her eyes pointing in different directions and her mane wet and frizzled. Scootaloo tightened her grip on Apple Bloom. "Apple Bloom! Thank goodness you're okay! We thought you were dead!" Apple Bloom violently shook her head and quickly her eyes came back to normal. She looked over at Scootaloo and said, "you thought I was dead?" Sweetie Belle nodded. "Yeah! No one could have survived that!" As the unicorn and the pegasus filly made sure the earth pony filly was okay, Spike was looking out towards the Everfree forest. Lots of animals such as chickens, mice, aardvarks, and even a lion were running blindly into the Everfree Forest scared for their lives. Before Spike could call her out however, Fluttershy galloped out of the Everfree brush with baskets of flowers and plants. The fillies and Spike didn't get a chance to say anything. Fluttershy stopped as she saw her house, torn asunder and now burning intensely. "My house!" she screamed. She saw her animals running in different directions, most towards the Everfree forest. "My animals!" Then, she gasped in horror as she remembered an incredibly important occupant of her cottage. "My Angel!" Before anyone could stop her, Fluttershy charged past and rammed the door down into her burning home. As the smoke rose into the air, sirens could be heard coming from the sky. It was the Fire Brigade. Pegasi in red helmets towing rainclouds. Fluttershy burst out of her home, carrying her unconscious soot covered pet rabbit. She gently laid Angel down on the ground and immediately started the standard CPR procedure for rabbits. The Cutie Mark Crusaders dredged themselves out of the stream and watched as the firefighters drench Fluttershy's house with rain. The fire, destructive as it was, was drowned and dissipated. Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie ran up the road and up to Fluttershy. Immediately there were cries of concern, relief, and confusion over what happened. With no time to waste however, Fluttershy and Twilight picked up Angel and ran down towards Ponyville in search of the town veterinarian with Spike following close behind. Apple Bloom pushed her goggles up and stared slack-jawed at the blackened wreckage and rubble. She couldn't imagine what Applejack had to say to her when she comes back later today. *** Los Pegasus "And you still haven't found it?" The masculine voice responded through the telephone. "No, Chief. I had all the ponies I could spare looking for it. Already been a week and a half and no leads on its location. Wherever it is, it's not in Los Pegasus anymore." "Darn. Alright, well, keep looking. I'll call you later, Tumbler." The pegasus mare hung up the phone. She had a khaki coat and mane of various shades of gray. What she wasn't however, was happy. As the CEO of Daring Industries, she had to deal with the fallout of not just a successful raid on her office, but also the loss of an important prototype. Her stocks were falling, nosy journalists were camping outside of her offices and her own house, and wild criticisms from the less braver tabloids. She had kept in touch with Royal Police who for the past ten days had searched desperately for that prototype. The only results that they had gotten were that the thieves were two griffons who raided the office ten days ago and stole the prototype then disappeared in the city streets. Essentially, they were right where they started. "Was that the Royal Police?" An old stallion, a pegasus, sat in the CEO's office. He was also accompanied by an earth pony stallion just as old as he was. "Yes, my good Mayor. I'll just let you know however, they didn't find it." The CEO walked behind her desk and sat down in her comfy armchair. One thing that the CEO deliberately does in her office was give herself the most comfortable chair possible, while leaving her visitors with wooden chairs deliberately designed to be uncomfortable. The furnace was also directly behind her chair, allowing her precious heat in the winter time and restricting it to her visitors and further amplifying the effect. The two stallions shifted and cringed every minute they sat. It definitely helped Daring at least instill the sense that she was in control for now. "You realize what this means, right? Your prototype could be lost forever, at best," said the Earth pony. "For all we know, an enemy of Equestria has gotten their hands or hooves on this thing, reverse engineering it for their own nefarious purposes." The CEO nodded slowly as she clacked her hoofs together. "I see what you mean." "So? Are you going to continue looking for it?" "Yes." The CEO leaned back in her chair. She opened a drawer and pulled out a file, saying, "I think I've wasted enough of your time, Mister Mayor. That prototype will be in the right hooves by tonight, I assure you." After glancing at each other wordlessly, the two stallions stood up and left. Daring sighed as she simply melted into her chair. She'll have to prepare the offices for investigators and inspectors from all over Equestria. Meanwhile, competition from other budding aircraft companies like Sokolsky Aviation or FlimFlam Futuristics or even Skyros Aviation are gonna be developing new lines and designs while Daring Industries is stuck. She looked over to the intercom, what came next wasn't going to be any easier. She tapped the intercom switch, "Secretariat." "Yes, Chief?" Secretariat was a dedicated secretary. The CEO was going to have her replace their old accountant but patient secretaries were hard to come by. After a moment of hesitation, the CEO said, "tell Kitty Hawk that we're discontinuing the Project." "Yes, Chief." Secretariat groaned quite loudly. She knew exactly how disagreeable Kitty Hawk would be. She asked, "what should I tell her? She's not just gonna let her pet project just die like that, Chief." The CEO nodded, even though Secretariat was in a different room on a different floor. She spun the chair around to the furnace. A few logs were already cooking in the fire. She looked at the file in her hooves. Inside were the blueprints to the Mark One prototype, concept sketches, classifications, specifications, everything that would anybody to build a new one. She tossed it into the furnace. As they burned, she looked over at the wall. Old plaques, rewards, and medals for good service. There was also her degree in archeology, a photo of her and Kitty Hawk together at the old orphanage, and newspaper clippings of their first airplane flight. "Tell her dreams die all the time, Secretariat. This particular dream is over. Tell her Daring Do said so." Next time On The Mare of Tomorrow "Where is it!?" he shouted. Gilda pointed her talon at that unicorn and shouted back, "you tell me what this thing is and why it's so important that some lame brain aristocrat needs it or we bail!" *** Fluttershy asked, "is it some kind of bomb?" "Nah, too complex looking to be a bomb." Apple Bloom ran her hoof over some kind of button. Fluttershy stammered as she Apple Bloom with the button, "I wouldn't touch that if I were you..." The filly pressed it.