//------------------------------// // 5: The Gala // Story: The Jolly Rogers // by lockheed //------------------------------// I growled under my breath at this infernal waste of time. "Don't growl James, darling. I am almost done." "Ya said that an hour ago!" "Well that was on one thing, now I'm almost done with another. You can put your arms down." My shoulders made a crackling sound as I put my arms down. Hopefully this fitting would be over soon. "Ah can go to the Gala without a tux. You know that right?" "No you certainly can not! I know you'll be getting your new uniform then but you need something to wear before it." "No Ah don't. I think yer just being a drama queen again." "I am not!" "Are too." "Am not!" "Are too." "I am not. Now if we can stop acting like children, you're done with your fitting. Your suit will be ready in the morning before we all leave for Canterlot." "Thanks. Ah don't have any money so just start a tab for me." "Of course. So, do you have a date for the gala James? I'm sure you could get almost any mare since you are going to be a military officer." "No Ah don't but speaking of that can Ah use your phone?" "Of coarse." Acting fast before Rarity could think of another thing she needed to waste my time on I ducked into the hall and finally managed to find the phone. It looked like one of those phones like from the old house with the hearing piece and then the end you speak into. I picked up the hearing piece and was greeted by the sound of a voice on the other end. "Ponyville operator, how may direct your call?" "Connect me to Manehattan please." "One moment sir." I sighed and began tapping my foot while waiting for almost a good minute on the operator. Finally a the voice of a stallion pierced the silence. "Manehattan operator." "Connect me to a Miss Thunderstreak please." "One moment." I took a deep breath and sighed. 'It's not wrong if the pony has a human level intelligence is it? Ah don't think so. Let's just go with no it's not.' "Hello?" "Thunderstreak?" "Yes, who is this?" "It's James." "Oh hey James. How are you?" "Ah'm good. Listen, Ah'm going to the gala in Canterlot tomorrow and Ah was wondering if you would be interested in going with me?" "Of coarse! I've never been to the Grand Galloping Gala before. I still need a dress." "Well Rarity here in Ponyville owns a shop. Why not come down here and get a dress?" "But it's already after three and the train wouldn't get there until dark. I suppose I could stay in an inn tonight." "You don't have to do that. Ah'm sure the Apples wouldn't mind another guest." "Are you sure?" "Absolutely." "Alright. Let me call my mom to come get the kids and I'll head that way." "Ok. See you in a bit." We both hung up and I placed the phone down only to notice Rarity in behind me, her smile going from ear to ear. "What are you so happy about?" "Well you got a date darling. Why shouldn't I be happy?" "Ah didn't say she was going." "Well from the fact that you told her to come here, the Apples wouldn't mind another guest, and you said you would see her in a bit I managed to piece it together. Plus there’s another phone in the other room.” “You listened to my phone call?” “I wanted to know what kind of mare you got. And I need to get my dresses out so they’re ready when she gets here.” “Well you do that. Ah’m going back to Sweet Apple Acres. Ah done missed the chores for the last two days so AJ and Big Macintosh are gonna be pissed if Ah skip out on a third day.” Stepping around Rarity I headed for the front door of the boutique to go back to the farm. As I walked down the street I looked up to the cloudless sky. As I looked I thought about watching the planes overhead as a kid, sitting and watching dad spray fields in his surplus AT-6, learning to fly in the Harvard and helping paint the name Little Miss Mischief along with Betty Grable on the old, dented cowling. ‘Mom always did hate the fact he painted Betty on there and not her.’ I chuckled at the memory of the time dad tried to teach my sisters how to fly the plane and Brianna almost crashing into the barn at Grandma’s farm. Granny almost had a damn heart attack when that happened. After about twenty minutes of walking I turned up the lane for Sweet Apple Acres and could see Applejack and Big Macintosh busy feeding the pigs off to the side of the barn. As I got further up the lane I saw them turn away from the pig pen to continue about their daily chores. “AJ! What do y’all want me to do?” Applejack looked over at me and scratched her chin and looked around before pointing towards a large pile of scrap metal. "Y'all see that scrap pile over there?" "Eeyup." "Don't do that. It's bad 'nough Mac does that. You help Big Macintosh move all that to the junk pile on the other side of the orchard. If ya finish that 'fore dark ya can leave early to go meet yer marefriend." "How'd ya know 'bout that." "Rarity called here. If she knows somethin' it doesn't take long for her to blab to somepony. Now get to work." Applejack walked away towards the house where the smell of food cooking was just beginning to be noticeable. I walked over to the scrap pile where Big Macintosh was waiting with a couple of carts to haul the metal in. We wasted no time in loading the metal up and setting off for the far side of the property. Somewhere along the way I looked back at the metal in the cart I was pulling and got an idea. “Hey Mac, do you guys got a shed you don’t use?” “Eeyup.” “Can ya show it to me?” “Eeyup.” Mac turned and led the way through what was easily over a mile of orchard. We reached a large clearing in the center of the property and saw the shed across the clearing nestled amongst more apple trees. I looked around at the clearing and found it to be almost totally flat except for a small bump halfway down it. “It’s perfect. Let’s get this metal in the shed.” “Why’re ya wantin’ a bunch of scrap?” “Mac, that’s the difference between you and me. Y’all see scrap but Ah see useful material.” “How is this junk useful?” “Well Mac,” I started across the clearing towards the shed with Big Mac trotting along next to me, “this metal is aluminum, and aluminum is vital in an idea Ah got.” “What idea?” We stopped in front of the shed and I swung the door open. “This shed is big enough for an airplane. Well if Ah put the wings on after Ah build the fuselage.” I looked back at both carts and the metal in them. “This won’t even put skin on half the fuselage. Well, it would cover most of one side if ya only did one side of the fuselage. Not including the engine cowling of course.” “What’s an engine cowling?” “The part that surrounds the engine of the plane.” “Oh. Ah still don’t see why you would waste metal on that.” “Because Mac, the Tomcats are still in Canterlot. Celestia said it may take a few weeks for them to duplicate one cup of jet fuel into a good reserve so until then Ah’ve got to find another way to fly.” I dumped the metal from my cart out onto the floor of the shed which prompted Big Mac to do the same with his cart. “And on the upside we didn’t have to walk all the way across the property to the scrap pile.” “All ya did was move it here.” “Ya won’t think it’s scrap when it’s soarin’ through the sky like a bat outta hell.” Big Mac rolled his eyes as we turned to go back to the house. We walked in silence all the way back and made it to the house with an hour of sunlight left. We left the carts by the front porch and went up the steps into the house. “What are you two doin’ back so soon? If ya didn’t get rid of it like Ah said Ah’ll kick both of yer flanks.” “Relax AJ. We got it taken care of.” “Ya better have. Ya missed chores for the last two days so it’s the least ya can do.” “Ah know. So what’re y’all makin’ for supper?” “You’ll find out later. Now why don’t ya go into town to meet your marefriend.” “She’s not my marefriend.” “Whatever ya say.” I grumbled under my breath at Applejack saying that. ‘She’s not my marefriend. Not sayin’ Ah wouldn’t mind meetin’ a mare to settle down with if we’re stuck here for good.’ The gravel of the road made a crackling sound under my boots as I walked towards Ponyville. I looked at the sky that glowed orange with pink, green, yellow, and red stripes here and there. The sound of my boots hitting the cobblestone street on the edge of Ponyville snapped me out of my daze and I looked away from the sky at the quaint little homes ahead of me. As I walked down the street towards the center of town I was met by a few ponies leaving the last few open stalls at the market. They smiled and nodded at me as I had become well known in town. One mare in particular had become obsessed with me, Lyra I think her name was. When I had gotten back to Ponyville late the night before she was waiting at the train station and followed me all the way to Sweet Apple Acres with what seemed a million questions about humans. Today I had managed to avoid her but there were still a few hours left until tomorrow so I was on high alert through town. As I passed the library a thought popped into my head and I ducked into the library. Twilight was standing over by the wall levitating a book up to a high shelf. “Hey Twilight.” Twilight jumped and dropped the book which landed with a loud thud. “Sorry ‘bout that.” “It’s alright James. Can I help you with something?” She levitated the book back up and slid it into an empty spot on the shelf. “Yeah. Ah know the library is where they tend to keep everything for the town and there ain’t no record shop here so Ah was wondering if you had any records here?” “Of course we do!” She trotted over to a few shelves and pointed at a large collection of records. “Any you recommend for a romantic evening with a mare?” “This one’s always a big hit with the mares. We’ve gotten quite a few stallions come back saying it works wonderfully.” She levitated a record over to me and I took it from her. “Captain Stardust and his orchestra?” There was something familiar about the stallion on the front of the cover. Maybe it was the trombone he had with him or the round glasses he wore but there was something familiar that I couldn’t put my finger on. “His orchestra is supposed to be playing the gala tomorrow night.” “They any good?” “They’re fantastic. I heard them in concert a few months ago and almost everypony in the concert hall was dancing in isles.” I flipped the cover around and looked at the songs on the back, Begin the Beguine and My Blue Heaven. My eyes widened as I realized who it was. “That’s who it is!” “That’s who who is?” “Captain Stardust. Ah know him. Well, Ah know who he is.” “Who is he then?” My eyes darted over to the clock and saw the time to be almost eight thirty. “Ah gotta go. Ah’ll tell ya tomorrow when Ah bring the record back.” “But, who is he?!” Twilight groaned in frustration as I rushed out of the library towards the train station. As I reached the platform the train from Manehattan pulled into the station. The train rolled to a stop and the doors opened with only two ponies stepping out. The olive mare I had waited for looked around and broke into a grin when she saw me. “Hello sweetie.” “Hey Thunderstreak. How was the train ride?” “It was alright. I slept most of the way here.” “Well Rarity should be waiting on us. Guess we should be going.” “Yeah. What you got there?” She waved a hoof at the record in my hand. “Just a record Ah borrowed from the library. Thought Ah might listen to it later.” “Who is it?” “Stardust and his orchestra.” “I love them! Especially that song of theirs Anvil Chorus.” “They’re supposed to be playing the gala tomorrow night.” “No way! James this is going to be the greatest date ever!” “Date?” “Of course. You’re taking me to the gala as your date right?” “Yeah, Ah suppose Ah am.” We walked and chatted all the way to Carousel Boutique. We entered the shop and met the jingle of the bell above the door. “James, is that you?” “Yeah Rarity, it’s me.” “Is your marefriend with you?” “She’s not my marefriend.” “Yet.” “What was that Thunderstreak?” “Nothing.” Rarity trotted into the room pushing a large rack filled with dresses. She stopped next to five more racks with dresses on them and I knew any future money I had would be going towards this. “So Thunderstreak, what kind of dress were you looking for?” “You got anything in camo?” “I’m afraid not.” “Then anything classy but not too classy, and it’s gotta be a decent price.” “Well feel free to browse for one you like. Take your time.” Thunderstreak walked over to the racks and picked out a few dresses and trotted over to the changing room. “If you need anything Ah can help.” She poked her head out of the changing room and smiled. “And let you see me in my dress before tomorrow? Spoilers.” I grinned at her and she ducked back into the dressing room and came back out with a dress in a box. She gave the box to Rarity to ring up, but not without a peek at the dress by Rarity. “Oh that one is absolutely beautiful darling!” “Well sense you didn’t have camo I figured this was the next best.” Rarity rang the dress up and it came out to seventy five bits, much less than I had expected. We walked out of Carousel Boutique a mere ten minutes after entering. “It was nice of Rarity to stay open late just for us.” “Us?” I looked down at Thunderstreak with an eyebrow raised. “Of course. This dress isn’t just for me you know.” “Then who is it for?” “The fancy ponies in Canterlot, my cousins wedding, and of course you.” “Me? But why would ya get a dress for…Oh, oh!” “Took you long enough. And don’t think that’s tonight. I like to actually get to know my dates. I’m not like my sister.” “Well Ah obviously picked the right sister. Especially since ya asked for a camo dress.” “I think camo should be its own color. Like camo paint.” “You ma’am are a damn genius.” “Right? My oldest son doesn’t think so.” “Oh what does he know?” We reached Sweet Apple Acres and walked up the steps to the house where there was a strong smell of food hovering in the air. ‘What the hell did they cook? Smells good.’ I opened the door and found six plates of alfredo sitting on the dining room table with the Apple family sitting all in four of the spots. “What’s all this?” “Well we knew ya had a mare coming over, and from Manehattan no less, so we wanted to make a good first impression.” “Well you guys didn’t have to do that. I would have been fine with a sandwich and a beer.” I smiled at Thunderstreak and looked up at the Apples. “Isn’t she great?” We sat down and ate, one of the first meals that wasn’t just an apple since I got to Equestria. The pasta was extraordinarily good, better than most restaurants I had eaten the same meal at. “Where did you guys learn to cook this well?” “Well Big Mac had to take home ec. In high school and they taught them how to cook so he wrote the directions down for us.” “Well Mac they taught you well. Ya know who Ah bet would love this? Fluttershy.” “Don’t waste your breath James. We’ve all tried getting him to go out with her, except for Applebloom, and every time he says no.” “Why not Mac? Ah think she’d be perfect for ya.” “Mac you won’t know whether or not you have a chance unless you ask her will you?” “Nnope.” “So go pick up the phone, call her, and ask her to the gala tomorrow.” “Yeah Mac. Ah gotta agree with Thunderstreak. Ah was nervous asking Thunderstreak but Ah wasn’t gonna get an answer to a question Ah never asked. Go call her.” “Alright, Ah’ll go call her if it’ll get y’all off my back.” There was a collective agreement at that and we went hush to try and hear what Mac would say. We heard him pick up the phone and ask the operator for Fluttershy’s then him making small talk with her. Finally the moment of truth came and we heard him ask her to the gala. There was a pause then he said thanks and hung up. He trotted into the dining room with a gigantic grin. “She said yes.” “Oh Mac that’s great. I told you it would be fine. Now let’s drink to this.” “Ya really want to drink over something like that?” “James I am a single mother of three. Need I say more?” “Let’s get her a drink!” ~~~~~ The Next Day ~~~~~ My fingers buttoned up my tux jacket and straitened the red bow tie Rarity had put in with it. I looked at myself in the mirror of the guest room and smiled. ‘Always did look good in a suit.’ I walked down stairs and found Applejack in a green and gold dress and Big Mac in his tux with a bow tie like mine. We stood and talked for a bit about what we hoped to get out of tonight when we heard hoof steps coming down the stairs. We all turned and saw Thunderstreak in a ruby red dress. “Well helloooo nurse!” I said with a wolf whistle right behind it. “James, you flatter me. And don’t talk so loud, my head still hurts from last night.” “Ah told ya not to drink so much, ya didn’t listen.” Thunderstreak rubbed her head with a hoof and grabbed a couple of aspirin from a cabnet before coming back to the dining room so we could meet the others and head for the train station. We set off and talked back and forth on the way to the library. The others were waiting at the library and seemed impatient about getting going, except Twilight who kept trying to get information from me about the record. We sat at the train station for almost two hours, the train not arriving in Ponyville until almost eleven. We boarded and took our seats in the fourth car and waited for the train to head for Canterlot. The train suddenly lurched forward and began to roll down the tracks. After the train had picked up speed we all began to move around the car. “So where have the other three from the other day been?” “They wanted to stay in Canterlot for some reason. Lord knows what?” “Maybe cause a little trouble?” “Knowin’ those three they probably are.” “Are they going to the gala too?” “They’re supposed to.” We continued talking for the next three hours to continue getting to know each other better. She was from Manehattan but originally from Cloudsdale, had two deadbeat ex-husbands, and all about her kids. I told her about my childhood with six siblings, learning to fly when I was only ten, moving to help grandma with her orchard, and seeing dad for the last time. “He had flown to California to help spray a friend’s fields out there with his surplus Harvard and when he was finished his friend and him were gonna come back to work at the orchard. They had to fly over the mountains and dad flew ahead of his friend’s surplus Mitchell and they were supposed to meet in Denver but dad never arrived. The authorities said there had been a large thunderstorm around his last known position so they combed the nearby mountains for weeks but they never found a wreck.” “I’m so sorry James. Was he a nice man?” “Extremely. He would do stuff with all of us but Ah was his only son so he always did more exciting stuff with me. Like teaching me how to build a depth charge we dropped into the pond, how to bail out of a plane, or make napalm. Manly shit.” “You put a depth charge in the pond?” “The pond got about three feet deeper after we did that.” “Must have been a small pond.” “It was. There was only one fish in there.” “Poor fish.” Eventually we all seemed to group together in the center of the car with the trip easily over half over. “So James, you never did tell me who Captain Stardust is.” “Twilight can we not discuss this now?” “Why not? You said you’d tell me today so I want answers.” “Well there was this one conductor back on earth who played the same style music, wore glasses like him, played the trombone, and disappeared without a trace.” “So you think Stardust is a human who came here and turned into a pony? That’s highly unlikely.” “Twilight, if Ah could get here how much more difficult would it be for whatever brought me here to change a guy into a pony?” “Well I suppose it is possible but like I said it’s unlikely.” We all tried brushing it aside but I could tell all the others who hadn’t talked were trying to wrap their heads around such an idea. There was some small talk but after that we all mostly sat quiet. ~~~ Three Hours Later Royal Palace, Canterlot ~~~ “So which uniform would you all like to wear for your induction tonight?” Princess Celestia pointed at the uniforms that had been made for us. Marko, John, Will, Austin and I looked at the three example uniforms lying on the table in front of us. “Well Ah don’t know about y’all but Ah’m goin’ with the olive.” “I have to go with the same decision as Lieutenant Commander Jones.” Marko and I chose olive drab uniforms, Will and Austin khaki uniforms, and John a blue uniform. “We have one of each color for each of you in case any of you change your minds.” Celestia floated our selected uniforms over to a guard who took them to a room behind the stage in the grand ballroom. We all left the small conference room and headed for the grand ballroom where the others were waiting and the crowd was beginning to grow. Thunderstreak and I took a seat at the bar and ordered a couple of beers. “Bit early in the party to be drinking isn’t it?” I turned to look at the night blue alicorn that was addressing me. “Luna you know there ain’t no such thing as drinkin’ too early.” “You’re right Colonel. Who is your marefriend here?” “I’m Thunderstreak. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you Princess Luna. Last time I did you were still using the royal Canterlot voice and that fancy sounding talk.” “Yes, indeed I have mostly caught up with the times. It’s still odd talking on a telephone or listening to the radio. We didn’t have those when I was banished.” “Ah’m sure in time you'll adjust. So Princess Ah have no idea who most of these fancy ponies are, care to help me out?” Luna scratched her chin and looked around the room for a pony to start with. Finally she pointed at a white unicorn stallion with a blonde mane and a unicorn mare with the same coat color and a brown mane. “That’s Prince Blueblood and his new marefriend. He’s a self-centered pain in my rear and as for her, there’s a name for mares like her but it’s hardly used in high society, outside of a kennel.” "Now Luna I’m sure you don’t mean that.” “Thunderstreak, Ah’ve spent two days in Canterlot with the Princesses and Ah can tell ya that Luna speaks her mind.” “I do. Celestia does not like it but she deals with it. I believe I’m supposed to be helping my sister greet the guests so I must be going. You two have a wonderful evening.” “Thank you. You too.” Luna turned and trotted away towards the grand staircase of the castle. As we turned back to the bar we noticed a stallion with a coat that looked about like olive and brown mixed and a black mane. I barely noticed him but looked back when I saw his round glasses and trombone cutie mark. “Excuse me sir, ya wouldn’t happen to be Captain Stardust would ya?” “Indeed I am. You that new air force colonel that I’ve heard about?” “Yeah. Ah’m a big fan of your music by the way. You ever hear of a guy named Glenn Miller by any chance?” His eyes went wide and the color drained from his face at the mention of that name but he quickly composed himself. “No, I’m afraid I have not. Is he very good?” “Yes he is, well, was. He disappeared over forty years ago and they never found him.” “Poor man. If you excuse me, I must be going. We’re supposed to start playing in five minutes.” Stardust quickly trotted away for the backstage area. “Did ya see his reaction when Ah mentioned Glenn Miller?” “Yes but I was just excited to actually see him for real, up close.” The Bartender brought our beers over and I gave him the few bits I had collected over the last few days. We sat and watched all the ponies file into the ballroom as the band finished setting up on the stage. There were quite a few military ponies present, possibly for our induction into the air force. As we sat and watched the crowd a lone grey stallion in a white uniform sat down next to us. He ordered a hard cider and a slice of pie to go with it. “Sorry buddy we ain’t got any pie here. You want that you gotta go see that mare Applejack.” “Look buddy, Ah don’t mean to be a prick but I’m gonna get a piece of pie. Now you can get me one or Ah swear Ah’ll shove a fuckin’ barstool up your ass.” “One slice of pie coming right up sir.” The bartender galloped off for the food cart that Applejack had set up. I laughed at the bartender running from a pony who looked so harmless. “The fuck you laughin’ at you tall son of a bitch?” “An angry little prick who has no concept of what the fuck manners are.” We both stared each other before bursting out laughing. “You boy, are one cocky bastard. What’s your name?” “Soon to be Colonel James Jones.” “Well James Ah’m Rear Admiral Harvard.” “Harvard, that’s an odd name. So what do you do Admiral?” “Well Ah designed Equestria’s newest fleet of battleships and am currently working on a large ship that can allow hundreds of pegasi to take off at one time.” “Sounds like you guys’ form of an aircraft carrier.” “A what?” “It’s a big ship the navy uses to launch aircraft like fighter planes. My dad almost served on one in the war with the Japs but they moved his squadron to the Solomons ‘fore he got there.” “So how big are these ‘aircraft carriers’?” “Well the one dad almost served on was ‘round seven hundred eighty feet long so they’re big.” “Sounds like it.” The bartender returned with a slice of pie and quickly gave it over to Admiral Harvard. “Well it was nice meeting you Colonel Jones. Hopefully you can tell me more about technology from your world sometime.” “Maybe.” Admiral Harvard grabbed his pie and cider and seemed to balance it all in one hoof over to a table near the dance floor. Thunderstreak and I finished our beers as the band just finished setting up. Stardust, now in an olive air force uniform, stepped up to a microphone on the stage and cleared his throat to get the attention of all the chatting ponies in the room. They all went hush and turned towards him. “Fillies and Gentlecolts, may I present her highness Princess Celestia!” There was an uproar as Celestia walked onto the stage and took the place of Stardust on stage and smiled to the crowd. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Will, John, Marko, and Austin in their tuxes and waving for me to follow them towards the backstage area. “Thunderstreak, Ah’ll be back in a minute.” “Ok.” I followed them to a room behind the stage where there were dressing rooms all around. On five separate hangers there were our uniforms waiting for us. “Looks like we’re about on boys. Let’s move!” We all grabbed our uniforms and dashed to put them on as fast as we could. Within three minutes we had all finished dressing except for buttoning up our jackets. The entire time we were getting changed we could hear Celestia on stage talking about our sudden appearance, how we did not pose a threat to them, and how we actually wanted to help them by volunteering to join their air force. We all hurried over to the area by the stage where we would be hidden until Celestia called us out. “And now I am honored to present to you the five newest officers in the Royal Equestrian Air Force. Colonel James Jones, Lieutenant Colonel Marko Loginov, and Captains Will Donavan, John Tarr, and Austin Miller.” We stepped out onto stage and waved to the crowd in front of us. Celestia levitated the rank pins over towards us and pinned them onto our uniforms. I looked at the pins on our shoulders and found them to be identical to U.S. Army ranks, well, almost. The pin on my shoulder had a phoenix instead of an eagle holding arrows and oak leaves. Looking at the crowd again I could see Thunderstreak in the very back stamping her hoofs in applause with all the other ponies. “Colonel Jones, would you care to say a few words?” “No thank you. Ah hate public speaking.” “All right then. These five have proven themselves to me in the last few days so I have decided to place them on my personal staff. In addition to their new position I am creating the first unit with aircraft and appointing Colonel Jones as unit leader.” There was lots of applause and we all stood waving before making a quick exit and resuming the activities we were doing before our introduction to everypony on stage. “I am going to give the stage back to Captain Stardust and his orchestra now.” Stardust trotted onto stage and gave the crowd a quick smile as I walked over to Thunderstreak. “So how does it feel to be on a date with an Air Force Colonel?” “I’m a Captain so don’t get so cocky about rank.” “You’re still lower rank than me.” “But I’m a mare so I think we both know who runs this show.” “Never changes does it? The woman is always in charge.” “You got that right sweetie. Now shall we dance?” “Ah don’t know much dancing.” As soon as I finished my sentence the band struck up a familiar song. “Never mind, Ah know how to dance.” Thunderstreak grabbed my hand with her hoof and pulled me towards the dance floor. When we got out there we realized there was a problem. “How am Ah supposed to dance with you? Ah’ve never danced with a pony before.” “Well we’ll figure it out as we go. Maybe if I fly up at your eye level?” She seemingly floated up until I was looking her dead in the eye. Her hoofs came to a rest on my shoulders and I carefully put my hands on her back, trying to keep from bumping her wings as I did. Finally we figured out what worked, as the song ended. “Are ya kiddin’ me?” “Oh well. At least we know what to do next time.” “Yeah, you’re right.” We left the dance floor and found a table with Mac and Fluttershy who were talking to some unknown unicorn stallion and a white unicorn mare. “Hey Mac. Hey Fluttershy.” “Hey James. This is Fancy Pants and Miss Fleur de Lis. Ah was just telling them about you wanting to build an airplane.” I looked at Mac then over to Fancy Pants who seemed rather intrigued in the idea. “Colonel Jones why don’t you and your marefriend have a seat and you can tell me more about this ‘airplane’ of yours.” Thunderstreak and I took a seat at the large table and I grabbed a napkin and produced a pen from my pocket and began drawing a rough draft of the plane. “The engine is a Pratt & Whitney R-2800-8 and the fuel tank is located right behind that in front of the cockpit. The gull wings allow for short landing gear and a large propeller. The plane can be armed with either six .50 caliber machine guns, four .20 millimeter cannons, or no armament for civilian use. Maximum speed is around four hundred and twenty miles per hour.” “Well it is certainly a beautiful aircraft. What would it require to build four?” “First off we’d need aircraft grade aluminum. Then an engine, tires, instruments, a plexiglass canopy, and paint.” “It shouldn’t be too hard to acquire all that. I want to make a proposition to you Colonel Jones. There is a twenty five thousand bit prize to anypony who can fly an aircraft from Canterlot to Gryphus in less than a day. The best an airship can do is one and a half due to the mountains between here and there. They can’t fly over them but I bet your aircraft can can’t it?” “How high are the mountains?” “Around six thousand meters.” “These birds can clear that easy as long as we have oxygen tanks.” “If the planes work you and three other pilots of your choosing can make the flight to Gryphus then split the prize money.” “Sounds great. You got yourself a deal Fancy Pants.” “Fantastic. There is a mare here somewhere that I believe can help us get quite a few of the materials.” “Who is she?” “She’s an airship captain who loves flying. If anypony can help us find what we need it’s her.” He looked around the room before finally finding the red pegasus mare with an auburn mane and waving his hoof for her to come over to the table. As she got over closer I saw her leather flight jacket and aviator wings pinned onto it in addition to a cutie mark of a propeller. She grabbed an empty chair from another table and sat down at our crowded table. “You waved for me?” “Yes, I was just suggesting to Colonel Jones here that we build four of this aircraft he wants to build and use them to win the race to Gryphus.” She looked down at the plane drawn on the napkin and looked up at the ponies at our table. “Well it is a beauty I’ll say that much. Can it get over the mountains? My airship could do it in less than a day if it weren’t for those mountains.” “Colonel Jones says they can. So can you help us get the parts for it?” “Of course I can.” She looked over at me and offered her hoof for a shake, which I accepted. After the hand/hoof shake she introduced herself as Captain Electra, the first female airship captain. “Electra, that sounds more like a stallion name.” “I get that a lot.” “So why did you become an airship pilot?” “Because the mare who can create her own job is the mare who will win fame and fortune. I always loved flying but I knew there had to be bigger challenges in flight. When I read there had been no female airship pilots I knew what my life goal was.” “Sounds like you’ve got your priorities straight.” She smiled and we all continued to talk over the band about what we needed for the aircraft. ~~~~~ Canterlot Train Station 01:22 hours ~~~~~ We all stood around the platform waiting for the train to Ponyville arrive and take us all home. My eyes barely managed to stay open as we waited until the scream of a whistle jolted me wide awake. The train for Ponyville slowed to a stop before the doors flung open for us to board. We all got into the third car and flopped down on the seats. As the train slowly started for Ponyville I felt a nuzzling on my arm. I looked down to see Thunderstreak cuddling up to my arm and smiling happily to herself. “Did ya have a good time?” “Yeah. Hey James?” “Yeah?” “How would you feel about meeting my kids?” “Ah’d love to. How does this next Saturday in Manehattan work for you?” “Perfectly.” “So it’s a date?” “It’s a date.”