Wesley trotted out of Princess Celestia's chamber fuming. At first she had denounced his powerplant and his engines as rediculous, and he had tried to stay calm, but when safety procedures were brought up, he had exploded.
"The safety procedures for this project would be quite rigorous, you know. A megaspell is nothing to play with." she had said.
"Do you think we are a herd of incompetents?" his voice had hardened.
"No, I-"
"If you think for one SECOND that we don't know what we are doing, why in your little sister's name did you let us design the damn thing in the first place? Why didn't you just discredit me and my team and send us home with no space program, no funding, and no design for the first space capable ship in Equestrian history? Why would you do that if you think we can't understand the safety procedures involved?" His eyes went wide in shock as he regained control. "Sorry, Princess. I am rather... invested in this project. I don't want to see it fail or shut down. Hell, Luna designed the power source."
Celestia nodded once. "Alright, you have your funding. If it does not work, we will have the first museum piece for attempts at space flight."
"Won't fit in your museum." he chuckled.
"We will find a way."
The princess drove him mad. She would present questions, push buttons until a pony snapped, then she would decide based on his or her explosion. He sighed, keeping moving, three scrolls poking out of his saddlebag, two were designs, and one, the authorization he had come to Canterlot for. Now to find a construction site. Splendid Valley? Too many diamond dogs. Everfree was too inhabited by wild animals and vegetation. Cloudsdale wouldn't be able to support a space port. Ghastly Gorge would be perfect to build a ship in. Support it against the walls and construct it so that the supports fall away when the engines start pushing it up. Wesley smiled, speeding up a bit to catch his train to Ponyville, to the ponies who would be able to help.
He needed someone able to build his megaspell power plant, and that someone could be Twilight Sparkle, if she accepted. The design had been completed by Luna herself not a week before, every binding spell, every bypass, carefully constructed to get the most power with the most stability. ESP 01 would fly, with his engine and Luna's power plant. Even if it was registered as ES 357790
The grey colt suddenly ran into a bluish column in his distractedness, falling flat on his rump. "What the... Oh! Princess Luna! I'm sorry!" He bowed hurriedly as soon as he looked up and found a smirking alicorn.
"Tis no issue, Wesley. Remember what we told you when you left our sister's guard." She cracked a smile, motioning for the stallion to get to his hooves.
"You told me to shoot for the moon, and that even if I missed, I would land among the stars."
"We must admit, we did not expect you to take it so literally." Luna's grin widened.
"You challenged me. I couldn't resist." Wes grinned in return.
"We believe you have a train to catch, Mister Quill." Luna chuckled, waving him off. Wesley smiled, saluted, and continued on his way.