The Engineer’s Wings

by Keeper of time RD

Chapter 1: An Adventure Unknowingly Begins

The Sanctuary Inn wasn’t the biggest or fanciest inn Ponyville had to offer. But it was the one closest to the airport. As a result most pilots who needed to overnight in the small town found their way here, as evidenced by the fact that half the room wore a pilot’s cap or goggles, the other half being locals who came for a good home cooked meal from time to time.

The inn itself was a simple wooden structure, simple enough that brass pipes could be seen running along the walls and ceiling. A stone fireplace helped provide a homely atmosphere to the humble inn, as did the many critters that also resided at the inn.

Most of the customers were speaking among themselves, enjoying a good breakfast before they planned on heading out. And that was just fine to the lone yellow mare, and owner of the inn, manning the counter. With the skillful flick of her wing and a kind smile, she sent a mug of the local cider down the counter to the pony who’d ordered it.

He returned a thankful smile to the shy mare with the long, pink mane.

One might have thought that a room full of high-flying airship and airplane pilots would be a rowdy one. And it might have been if not for the insistence of calm of the establishment’s owner. That and the large brown bear standing by the front door like a night club bouncer.

Speaking of the door, it opened and Hairy the Bear looked to see who the newcomer was.

“I came as soon as I got Fluttershy’s message,” she said.

He greeted the double pink mare and local baker with a friendly grunt and pointed a paw toward the table in the far corner.

She nodded and then took a moment to wave at the innkeeper before hopping her way over to the corner table.

At the table sat a gray stallion with a white mane and mustache, nursing a cup of tea. And if it were possible to dress in a way that screamed ‘I don’t belong here’ the fancy suit that made him look like a butler was doing a real good job of it. Honestly, he hadn’t paid much mind to the pink mare with the blue eyes until she sat down at his table.

“So, I hear you’re looking for some information,” she said.

After setting his tea down he looked the mare in the eyes and answered, “I’m told you know every pilot here.”

“Don’t be silly, I know everypony in town. So, what did you want to know?” she said in a tone that somehow managed to be both playful and ominous at the same time.

With a raised eyebrow, the stallion said, “I see. I’m looking to hire the fastest pilot courier I can. One who won’t ask too many questions. So who would that be?”

Instantly she answered, “Fastest is easy! She even lives here in Ponyville!” Taking a moment to stroke her chin with her hoof she added, “But… she knows her airplane makes her valuable. So, if you don’t want her asking too many questions, don’t let who she is catch you off guard and wow her with your first offer.”

“Alright, and who am I looking for?”

The pink pony leaned in close and whispered in his ear.

* * * * * * *

Armed with a name and a place, the butler stallion now walked the streets of Ponyville as he trotted onward.

Around him the buildings were primarily wood and plaster walls, with metal roofs. Most sporting bronze or brass pipes, further showing that the town shared Equestria’s recent fascination with engineering.

The town as a whole was divided into five sections. The three mid-valley mesas, that the town had been founded on, and two plateaus halfway up the walls of the valley that Ponyville called home. All together they were positioned roughly like the dots of the five side of a six-sided-die.

At the moment the stallion was on the west side of the central mesa, where the heart of the town was, heading south. The schoolhouse hadn’t been far from the northwest bridge, and unsurprisingly many a family had built their home here to be near both that schoolhouse and the market near the middle of town. Most shared the same style, although the ones at the edge of the mesa often had windmills attached.

Even here he managed to draw odd looks from the ponies he passed on the cobblestone streets. Yet despite that, or even the occasional blast of random steam vents moving his mustache, he kept a stoic aura about himself as he walked along. And the closer he got to his destination fewer and fewer ponies seemed to think his presence in this part of town seemed odd.

Not because the surroundings better matched his upper-class appearance, because they didn’t, but because the closer he got to the southwest bridge the more ponies could guess his destination.

Rounding a corner, he found said bridge before him. The sturdy steel beams of its industrial style filled his view. Honestly he found it somewhat of an eyesore. Though he would never admit it, he didn’t much get why ponies were so fascinated with machines these days that they felt everything needed to look like a mechanical frame. Whatever happened to the good old days, when a clock kept its gears hidden away? Not that the bridge had gears, it had no moving parts. It just shared the same skeletal look as if somepony had forgotten to put paneling on the frame.

The clink of his horseshoes on the steal path rang out as he crossed. Halfway, he approached the side of the bridge and looked out between the support beams and let the breeze blow through his mane for a moment. Down below he could see the forest that covered the valley floor. The Everfree Forest. Having grown up in this town he’d heard the stories of wild and dangerous creatures living down below, although he’d never been down there himself. Though looking down on it from way up here it seemed a beautiful sight. But it had nothing to do with why he was out this way, so he stepped back and resumed his trek toward the southwest mesa.

As he set hoof on solid ground he was greeted by rows of apple trees and a sign that read ‘Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres.’ A single family, the first family to live in this place, owned this entire mesa and this orchard was the very reason the rest of the town sprung up on the adjacent mesa.

He’d made it halfway between the bridge and the farmhouse at the center of the orchard when a voice with a country accent called out to him.

“Howdy! What bring ya to these parts, sir? Ya don’t strike me as somepony who couldn’t wait till market to buy some apples.”

The speaker turned out to be Applejack, an orangish-tan mare, with a blond mane and a brown cowboy hat.

“I afraid not, my good mare. I’d heard that the fastest courier in town also happens to be your mechanic.”

The mare gave an understanding ‘ooohhh’ and then added, “Ah reckon ya’d find her in the hanger, over in the north orchard.”

With a gentlemanly bow the butler thanked the farmer and headed in the indicated direction.

Sure enough, he soon found a path through the north orchard and after a few rows of apple trees it suddenly opened up to a small airfield at the north edge of the mesa. A dirt runway ran east-west, just beyond that, at about mid-field, was a traditional half-cylinder shaped hanger building. And not far from the hanger was an old wooden airship dock, Although at the moment nothing was anchored there.

After a quick check to insure that the runway wasn’t in use, he crossed it. As he approached the hanger he found one of its barn-like doors was open slightly, not wide enough for any vehicles, but more than wide enough for any pony to come or go.

Inside the first pony he found was a filly sitting by a tractor. The yellow filly had a large pink bow in her red mane and had been looking off to the side before she’d noticed the stranger enter.

“Uh… Howdy. Can Ah do something for you?” The filly’s unsure tone hinted that she was both trying to be polite and figure out why this overdressed stallion was here instead of dealing with somepony else.

“Perhaps you can,” he answered. “I was told I could find somepony named Scootaloo here. That’s not you is it?”

The filly giggled. “Naw, Ah’m Apple Bloom,” she answered. Then looking back to the side she called out, “Hey Scoots! Somepony’s looking for ya!”

Following the filly’s gaze, the butler found a wood and canvas bi-wing airplane. More importantly he also noticed the ladder and open maintenance hatch on the far side of said plane’s engine compartment.

A sudden thump made the hatch shutter for a moment and a groan hinted that the mechanic had raised their head unintentionally to the filly’s call. A set of orange hooves and a violet tail came into view as the mechanic descended the ladder.

As the pony continued to come into view, the butler raised an eyebrow at the realization that this pony was also a school-age filly.

When her purple eyes came into view, she hopped off the ladder and made her way over to the newcomer.

“Hey, how can I help you?” she greeted the stallion.

For a moment she started to offer her hoof for a shake, but then seeing she still had motor oil on it, she withdrew it and just smiled instead.

“I’m told you’re the fastest courier pilot in these parts. Is that true?”

“Pretty much,” she said beaming. “Only the Wonderbolts have faster planes. And last I checked they don’t hire themselves out as couriers.”

“I see,” he said. Then turning to Apple Bloom he said, “Excuse me, little Miss, would you mind if we spoke business in private?”

At first the farm filly tilted her head at the stallion. Then she hopped up with a gasp as she seemed to understand what had been asked of her. “Sure thing! I’ll be outside,” she said to her fellow filly before she left the hanger.

Once the butler was satisfied that they were alone he turned back to the young pegasus. For a moment he considered his next move. But he’d been warned not to underestimate this pony, and now that he’d seen her, he could understand what Pinkie Pie had meant. Finally he reached into his saddlebags and pulled out a large coin pouch.

“My employer needs a package delivered,” he said. Then he tossed the coin pouch to the ground, so that it landed with a heavy jangle, right at her hooves. “I’m authorized to offer one-fifth up front if you accept, the other four-fifths will be paid on successful completion of the job.”

To the filly’s credit, she didn’t immediately say yes, instead she nudged the pouch open. Her eyes growing wider as she realized that it had only gold coins and no silver ones to make it sound more impressive than it really was. Her eyes turned inward and continued to grow as she seemed to calculate just how much was being offered to her.

Finally Scootaloo looked back up and asked, “Just how big is this package of yours?”

“Why do you ask?”

Scootaloo recoiled at the suddenly hostile tone of the stallion’s response. Questions clearly weren’t welcome.

“Because I normally charge by weight. But even at my express delivery rate-” She gave the coin pouch a nudge. “-I can’t fit an elephant in my plane.”

After a short delay, the butler said, “The package is roughly the same size as you. Will that be a problem? Or do we have a deal?”

On one hoof, Scootaloo really didn’t like the secrecy and lack of information about the deal. But on the other hoof, ever since her father had died, leaving her orphaned, could she really afford not to take the deal? Then again, what if the package contained something illegal? She couldn’t really afford to get busted for smuggling either.

She dismissed the last thought with the idea that nothing could stop her from checking the package once she was alone with it in her plane. And if it did turn out to be something illegal she could just turn it in to the authorities.

Her final consideration was simply the fact that it had been over two months since she’d last had the chance to fly. While working for Applejack allowed her to get by it didn’t pay enough to buy fuel for her plane, so she could only do that when somepony was paying her to fly. And what she was being offered was more than what she usually earned in a year as a pilot.

“You have a deal.”

“Very good then,” the stallion said. Reaching into a pocket, he pulled out a small piece of paper and gave it to the filly. “Land at those coordinates, tomorrow morning at eight’o’clock sharp. You will be given the package and the details of the delivery then.”

With that the butler pony left.

A moment later, Apple Bloom returned.

“Ah take it, he give ya a job,” she said, looking at the coin pouch beside her pegasus friend.

Scootaloo only nodded to answer the question.

“Can Ah come?”

“No.”

“Aww, why not?”

“For starters, tomorrow is a school day.”

“You don’t go to school! And yet you’re smarter than most of my classmates! And even Applejack said that ya don’t have to learn in a classroom if ya just learn from the world around ya instead!”

“True. But I don’t think Applejack’s going to give you permission to come with me. Especially since I don’t even know where I’m going yet, so I don’t know if I’ll be gone an afternoon, or a few days, or what.”

With a heavy sigh, Apple Bloom conceded, “Fine.” Then with a more cheerful voice she added, “So what’s with the numbers?”

Looking back to the paper she’d been given, Scootaloo answered, “They’re coordinates. And I know these big numbers by heart. These are for Ponyville. The ones after the decimal points should be precise enough to tell me exactly where. But I need to look at a map to figure that out.”

Author's Note:

Well this is my first attempt at a true alternate universe story. So here’s hoping that goes well.

And this is the story that got much bigger than I thought it would be… so yeah, I’ll be editing this one chapter at a time like I did with the Paladin of Prismatic Light.

Anyway I hope you enjoy the story.