//------------------------------//
// The Tribute Ship 
// Story: Equestritania 
// by Packet 
//------------------------------//

Whooves was busy in his landlord’s narrow garden behind his apartment with an experiment. Part of the design for the Equestritania to float in the air involved attaching several airtight containers round the hull of the ship, filled with pressurised hydrogen to enable the great ship to be lifted into the clouds. Whooves had designed his plans for these containers to be like several gas balloons attached to the side of the ship, planning to create them out of canvas so that there would be hardly any other weight than the ship itself for the gas to lift, enhancing its chances of success. He was currently testing several types of air tight canvas; having created miniaturised balloons out of the different types of canvas he was now beginning to slowly inflate them one by one from a small canister of hydrogen, checking which one could withstand the greatest pressure before showing signs of stress. Opening up the valve on the canister, he watched as the first particles of the gas began to flow into the fabricated balloon. Seeing how it began to point skywards his mind was filled with excitement as he felt as if his project was actually coming together. He picked up his notebook and began frantically jotting down notes as the balloon began to reach its full size. Having quickly made all the notes he needed he reached out to turn off the gas valve.

“Whooves!”

BANG! The canvas balloon on the end of the canister burst with the pressure, causing him to fall over onto his back. Picking himself up off the freshly mowed lawn Whooves quickly shut off the valve on the canister to prevent anymore hydrogen escaping, and then turned back to the house to see who had been calling him. He instantly saw his landlord leaning out of one of the ground floor windows. He was an old aged pale blue earth pony with a well cut white beard and moustache. A pair of wire framed glasses sat prominently on the end of his nose and he wore a long black frock coat and matching top hat. Even though he wasn’t one, his Landlord liked to think of himself as one of the Canterlot Elite, and to anypony who didn’t know him he blended in quite well with the crowd. His landlord had never wanted to open up a room to let in his posh terrace house, but it kept the extra bits coming in, and he had no objections to Whooves experimenting, so long as it didn’t cause a scene or damage anything, which pleased Whooves greatly.

“Whooves, there’s someone at the front door for you”

Whooves ruffled his hair, trying to get the grass trimmings out, all the time wondering why someone would cut their lawn this late in the year “Who is it?”

“No idea chap, I’ve never seen her before. She seems to be some sort of delivery mare” He slammed the window shut, indicating to Whooves that he should go and see for himself.

Annoyed at having to stop his experiment, Whooves picked up the hydrogen canister and headed back into the tall narrow building and along the corridor to the front door, putting the canister down besides the staircase as he went by. The front door had been left open ajar, but was still concealing the visitor from view.

Whooves closed his eyes as he pulled the door open “Look, there is a note under the door bell saying that I’m not to be disturbed under any circumstances so….” He trailed off.

There on the doorstep, dwarfed by a rather large pink scarf and set of earmuffs was Octavia, shivering slightly in the autumn breeze. She was holding out a large brown paper parcel wrapped with string that had “Canterlot Tea Merchants” stamped on it. 

“Octavia?” Whooves was surprised “How did you know this is where I live?”

Octavia pulled down the scarf which was covering her mouth “This months orders came through at work this morning, and they’re having trouble distributing them due to the lack of delivery staff they have. When I saw this parcel I couldn’t think of anyone else with the name of Doctor Whooves, so I decided I’d spare you the long wait and deliver it to you personally when I clocked off” she beamed a big grin, proud of her efforts.

“Well, I suppose you’d better come in, you’re shaking far to much for my liking” Whooves pointed to the door at the top of the staircase just beyond the doorway “Mares first”





Unlike how Whooves’ vision of Octavia’s apartment had been wrong, Octavia’s vision as to what she expected Whooves’ apartment interior would look like was fairly accurate. The apartment itself was contained within a large single room, with a bathroom just down the hall. In one corner of the room stood an antique metal framed bed, neatly made. In the opposite corner was a tiny kitchenette unit with several glass science beakers and a mug on the drying rack. Octavia did begin to question whether Whooves washed his science equipment with his crockery, but thought it better to imagine that she hadn’t seen it. Books, blueprints and papers were scattered on a large desk on the other side of the room, which stood next to a rather large, battered blue phone box. Whooves walked over to it. 

“Before you ask why I’ve got an old Police Pony’s box in this room, it’s an old project of mine. Unfortunately for the past year it’s been proving rather temperamental!” He gave it a good kick as he opened up the right hand door, and a thin layer of mist flowed out, quickly vaporising as it left the box “Ah, seems it’s still being temperamental!”

“I wasn’t actually going to ask why you had it” Octavia remarked “I was just wondering how you managed to get it in the room. The hallway, staircase and doorframes are far too small for it to fit through. And even if you were to remove the window panes, you’d also have to remove most of the brickwork to slot it through on its side. Since there’s on visible sign of the windows being removed, how did you do it? The only possible way would be some form of magic”

“Umm….err….well, that can be easily……..” Whooves tried to desperately find someway of altering the subject of conversation as he walked into the box and brought out a small silver tea caddy, shutting the door and walking over to his kitchen unit “Hey! Have you seen the plans for the 1st class compartments I’ve produced for the Equestritania? I think you’ll find them to your tastes” 

Octavia casually glanced at some of the blueprints for the 1st class cabins of the Equestritania that lay on Whooves desk. The papers were pinned down on the desk by an old black and white photograph in an ornate frame. Making sure that none of the papers moved about, Octavia picked up the frame and inspected the image. What she saw in it seemed impossible, the photograph had to be a fake, she was sure of it. The image showed the slightly smaller airship port in Trottingham, and there, moored at the Cliffside dockyard on the outskirts of the town was a large four funnelled steamship. It was the name of the ship that caused Octavia to doubt the photos credibility. The shiny chrome lettering on the ships bow made the name show up far too clearly. Equestritania.

“Wh -Whooves” Octavia stuttered “You don’t know how to time travel do you?”

Whooves dropped his silver tea caddy with a clang, a hint of panic now in his voice “What makes you think that?”

“Well, either this photograph is a fake, or you’ve somehow been to the future and taken a photograph of your ship at Trottingham”

Whooves walked over and took the photograph from her, looking at it once more “Ah, no actually. You obviously don’t know the history behind the name of the Equestritania then”

Octavia tilted her head sideways and raised one eyebrow, confused “I don’t understand”

“It’s quite simple really” Whooves picked up his tea caddy and began putting the tea leaves in it “Next year marks the hundredth anniversary of the greatest airship disaster in Equestrian history. That ship in the photograph there, the Equestritania, was the ship concerned in the accident. No one is quite sure as to what happened, but the enquiry into the accident suggested that there was to much compressed hydrogen being pumped into its floatation chambers. Allegedly one of them burst open during a lightning storm, causing the gas to ignite, resulting in the ship turning into a sinking fireball as it plummeted down to the ground. Roughly eight hundred ponies perished when the ships remains smashed in a heap on the ground” he paused impressively. Noting how Octavia seemed to be more quiet, he put his full tea caddy away an gave Octavia a quick hug, pointing at his plans  “The Equestritania I’ve designed, which is currently sitting in the dry dock, was commissioned by both Princess Celestia  and Luna as a centenary tribute to the lives lost one hundred years ago. The plan is for it to be competed by the summer of next year so that a return cruise from Canterlot to Trottingham can be staged, on the exact day of the original ships final voyage and taking the exact route it travelled. The fact that I have upgraded the design from the original plans also fulfils the role of the ship acting as a tribute to Equestrian engineering, showing how even when we fail, we’re always prepared to correct our faults and try again” He walked over to his white hat stand and pulled down his long knitted scarf, wrapping it round his neck “In fact” he put on a saddlebag and slipped his notebook into it “I’ve got these notes to take down to the yard, why don’t we go and see how she’s coming along?”





The great black hull of the Equestriania was now slowly beginning to rise up out of the pit of the dry dock, inch by inch. Whooves himself had been slightly taken aback by Flam’s decision that the hull plating should be painted as quickly as possible when it was attached to the ribs, but after being assured that this would help protect the new metal from the harsh elements of nature, Whooves couldn’t help but agree it was actually a good decision, none the wiser as to Flam’s actual reasoning behind this.

“Well” said Whooves “Holding open one of the great iron factory gates for Octavia “There she is…..well, what’s been built of her so far anyway!”

Walking up to the edge of the pit and looking down, Octavia was instantly taken aback by how far down the hull of the ship stretched. Down below were the tiny figures of the workers, hammering rivets into the ship and painting the metal sheets to match the rest of the hull. 

“I had no idea that such a project was possible without the use of magic” 

“You’d be surprised what’s been created throughout the history of Equestria without magic” Whooves smiled “For instance, The Royal Canterlot Symphony Hall…”

“No” Octavia gasped.

“Yep” Whooves smiled “Built completely by hoof. Even the great chandelier was raised without magic. The Canterlot Archives have photographs that prove it. A lot of work definitely goes into making a ship, but in return we’ll get a vessel that shows the beauty of traditional craftsman ship”

“Much like my Cello, then”

“Exactly like your Cello Octavia. Which reminds me, you wouldn’t be able to tell me who made it would you?”

Octavia shook her head “Sorry, all I can remember about where it came from is that my father brought it for me for Hearths Warming when I was still a tiny filly. I can still remember how much it dwarfed me when I first gazed upon it.”

“That’s a shame that, I could’ve used somepony with craftsmanship skills like that” said Whooves, picking up a stray spanner that had been left on the dockside.

“For the Equestriania?”

“No, I need one to repair the legs on my coffee table, that’s all”

“Whooves!” Octavia gave him a playful shove at that last remark as Flam appeared from out of his office.

“Ah, Whooves I’m glad you’re here. I was just…” He paused, suddenly noting Octavia’s presence “I wasn’t aware that you were letting the public in to view the ship”

“Octavia is a special exception Mr Flam, I’ve been explaining to her how the Equestritania has been designed and built. If anyone else turns up saying I granted them permission turn them away unless they can provide written proof from me. You know by now what my writing looks like”

“Yes” Flam said through gritted teeth, thinking of all the expensive materials Whooves had signed orders for “But that’s beside the point. I take it you’ve inspected the work on the hull so far up close?”

Whooves produced his glasses from his saddlebag and placed them on the end of his nose, making him able to see every tiny rivet on the ship in detail “As a matter of fact, no”

“Well, are you satisfied with what you’ve seen of it so far?”

“I think so Sir. I told you this steel would hold better than the stuff you were going to order in”

A voice shouted from above “Look out below!”

Whooves, Flam and Octavia quickly jumped back from where they were standing as a cleanly cut circular piece of metal landed just where they had been standing. Flam shot a look of intense anger up at a young cream coloured earth pony, who was now poking his head out of the hole he had cut.

“Sorry Sir!” He shouted down again.

“See me in my office at four o’ clock!” Flam bellowed “And don’t expect to be getting your full wages for that mishap!”

Whooves coughed “There’s no need to take on that approach to one of the workers Flam. You must remember that I at least have a say in the running of this project” He raised his head to look at the pony, studying his face and mane for a brief second “It’s Pike isn’t it?”

“Y-yes Sir, Mr Whooves, Sir” Pike tremble nervously from his little cut out hole.

“I take it that this spanner must also be yours then, possibly dropped from an earlier piece of work?” Whooves raised the spanner for him to see.

“I-it is Sir, I meant to collect it as quickly as I could Sir, Honest!”

“Relax Pike. I’m not going to get mad at you. I think you’d probably be best suited in a different role, that’s all. Report to Mr Flam’s office first thing tomorrow morning and I should have something sorted out for you”

“Thankyou Mr Whooves, Sir” Pike’s head disappeared.

“Pike!”

“Yes Sir?” Pike’s head reappeared.

“Doctor Whooves, if you please”

“Oh, sorry Sir, Doctor Whooves, Sir!” and his head disappeared into the belly of the ship again.

Whooves turned back to Flam “You see, Sir. If you respect the workers they’ll respect you in return. Sometimes barking orders isn’t the way to go”

Flam said nothing, but simply turned on his hind legs and waked back into his office.


The dry dock in which the Equestritania was being built was far more expansive than Octavia first realised. The offices and worker’s mess rooms were all contained within white marble buildings alongside the port side of the ship, the innards of them being lavishly decorated with the surplus materials used to decorate previous ships that had come to life just outside their doors. At the top end of the yard were three expansive warehouses held al of the building materials that had been collected so far, the labyrinth of shelves and packing crates much resembling a museum store room, with labels everywhere noting down where materials had been sourced, who had produced them, how they had travelled there and what they were needed for. On the starboard side of the ship were the workshops. Octavia covered her ears with her scarf as they entered through a side door to the metal foundry to block out most of the noise. She was used to loud music both due to her concert playing and Vinyl deciding that ‘Extra Loud’ was the only volume setting she knew, but even the noise of the metal being hammered, cut, drilled and welded rivalled that. Whooves, however seemed to take this as the norm.

“This is where most of work to create the ship takes place” Whooves shouted over the noise “To use a rather colourful metaphor, in here we create all the pieces and then assemble them like a giant 3D jigsaw outside in the yard!”

Octavia, hadn’t really heard a word he said, so she just nodded and smiled in agreement as they moved on through the foundry, before them a great metal anchor was removed from it’s castings an hoisted towards the roof, still glowing a faint red along its edges.

Moving to a more quitter side room in the foundry, several sheets of metal were laid out on workbenches with their rivet holes and porthole holes already drilled and cut, awaiting the final inspection before being taken outside and fastened to the ship.

Whooves ran his hoof along the edge of the plates as they walked down the room “And to think, in just over 9 months time, all these workshops will be empty, silent, still, with the fruits of their labour floating in the skies outside”

“You’re very certain of yourself Whooves” Octavia looked over her shoulder at him.

“Why shouldn’t I be?” Whooves turned to face Octavia, grabbing her with his hooves so they both stared into each others eyes “As long as everything is done to my plans there is absolutely no way it could fail”

Octavia stared into his deep blue eyes, staring deeper she felt as if he was almost in a mad daze, blinded by his hopes and dreams “Whooves?”

Whooves instantly eased his grip on her and put a hoof to his head, steadying himself “Sorry, it’s just you’ve no idea how much I’ve staked on this project, you can understand why I’ve got to be certain about every little factor”

“And are you certain everything is going as planned?” Octavia asked as they approached one of the factory workers, who was busy sanding down one of the porthole holes, making sure the edge was smooth and clean.

“Definitely” Whooves replied “And if there’s one thing I’m certain of it’s that we’ve got the best workers available for the job. They cutting through this steel plating as if it were cheese” He turned to the worker “May I?”

The worker took a step back from the plating and mopped his brow, allowing Whooves to run his hoof along the edge of the freshly cut hole. His expression suddenly changed from one of dead certainty to one of serious concern.

“That’s not right” he said, looking up at the foundry worker “Hand me your tape measure dear chap”

Without saying a word the worker did so, nervously “I’ve done it right Sir. Exactly as the plans stated. A hole for a porthole exactly thirteen inches in diameter”

“I don’t doubt your workmanship skills, just from looking at it I can tell the hole is the right size. It’s not that that is worrying me though” Whooves glanced at him, measuring the thickness of the sheet metal “Hmmm……….has all the hull plating been this thick?”

“Now you mention it Sir, that did strike me as odd when I realised it”

Octavia’s ears began to prick up when she heard this “What did?”

“The plating Miss. Until almost a week ago, we were working with stuff that was as twice as thick as this, but now we've been ordered to manufacture parts of the ship with weaker steel. I know as well as you do Sir that it’ll compromise the strength of the Structure, but we’ve been told that it’s Mr Flam’s orders, and if we don’t do what he says we’ll be out of a job”

Whooves pounded his fist down on the workbench “The little…” his voice trailed off as he seethed with rage “Just wait till I get my hooves on him!” And he strode off, leaving Octavia behind.

Octavia sheepishly turned to the worker “Sorry about that” she apologised.

“Don’t worry Miss” The worker chuckled “Working in here you end up hearing far worse”

Octavia gave her thanks to him then darted off after Whooves through the maze of the foundry interior.





SLAM! Whooves almost took the rickety iron door off of its hinges as he burst out into the daylight and onto the frosty dockside, Octavia now close behind him.

“Whooves”

Whooves kept on walking, his eyes fixed straight ahead.

“Whooves!” This time Octavia stepped out in front of him, blocking his path “Listen to me!”

“Go home Octavia!”

“Whooves, just sit down right there and listen to me for one moment will you!” She glared at him as she raised her voice to a shout, which she only ever did when she was annoyed with Vinyl.

Staring into her deep purple eyes Whooves admitted defeat and sat down. Suddenly most of the anger inside him seemed to vanish as he realised how he had just acted. Slowly he raised his front hooves and stared at them “What am I doing Octavia?” he looked back at her and she could see the unmistakable look of fear in his eyes “I….I can’t go on like this. Everytime I come here I feel as if this project is slipping out of my grasp. I think I’d be better off removing my name from the project altogether and handing full control over to Flam” he began to sob faintly.

Octavia sat next to him and hugged him “Shh….you can finish this project Whooves. Before you know it it’ll be sailing day, and you’ll be high up on the deck of your Equestritania as it sets sail” She was quite surprised at Whooves’ sudden breakdown but at the same time chuckled at the thought that this is how her father spoke to her when she as upset as Whooves was when she was a filly.

Whooves dried his eyes with his scarf, in his mind gaining back some dignity after his sudden breakdown “You really believe in me?”

“Of course Whooves” she gave him a quick peck on the cheek “After all, you believe I’ve got what it takes to fulfil my music career, don’t you?”

Whooves smiled “Of course I do”

Octavia joking wrapped part of Whooves scarf around her neck, admiring it’s simple pattern of red, yellow, black and green patches “How about we both go and have a cream tea together, then come back and talk to Flam about this in a couple of hours. I’m sure it’s just a simple mistake in the order. And surely if the worst came to the worst you could double plate the hull to increase its strength?”

Whooves pulled back from their hug, looking her in the eye “You’re quite a little engineer, aren't you. Before I know it you’ll be taking my place!”

“Just because I’m a musically talented pony doesn’t mean I haven’t been picking up a thing or two from our conversations when we’re met up, Whooves. So then, Tea?”

Whooves stood up and extended a hoof “Shall we, Miss Octavia?”

“So we shall, Doctor Whooves”

The two of them walked off towards the yard gates, as Flam reared his head from round the corner of the foundry building. Making sure both Whooves and Octavia were well out of earshot he turned back round to a shadowy figure besides him.

“There’s a brown stallion walking with a grey mare towards the gates”

The figure quickly looked round the side of the building, then back at Flam “What about him, I don’t recognise him”

“Let us just say he’s started to suspect that I’m not doing everything ‘to the bill’ as they say, and if word gets out about it it could make things very difficult for me. Unfortunately, the chances of word getting about are pretty high given that he’s the sips designer”

“So what do you want me to do about him?”

“”If you could find someway of making him ‘indisposed’ for a while, that would suit me. But don’t try to roughen him up to badly; we don’t want to arouse suspicion”

“Leave it with me. And...err, what about the little matter of one hundred bits?”

“Don’t worry; you’ll get your money. Just finish the job first”

“Give me a couple of hours and it will be done” The figure set off after Whooves, waiting for a chance to strike…