The Mare of Tomorrow

by Eh

Chapter Three - "G-Ponies and Troubleshooting!"

News from Aviation company CEO Sunny Rays of Skyros Aviation! Last night, she announced the date for the maiden voyage of the newest seaplane airliner, the Skyros S-34 Skycruiser! One of the largest seaplanes, or any mechanically powered plane ever built, it is truly a flying ship! This seaplane is powered by twelve engines which can produce up to 100 wingpower each. They are mounted on the wings, front to back and power the pusher and tractor configured propellers which allows this giant seaplane to fly. Don't let its size fool you! This beast can outfly any airship in the sky!

CEO of Daring Industries, Daring Do, refused to comment when reporters stated the prediction that the Skycruiser could break the world airspeed record previously set by Daring's own D-1 Racer. The Skycruiser is expected to make its maiden voyage in approximately three months. For now, it sits in the Los Pegasus Harbor, undergoing final modifications from prototype to full fledged airliner.

Tumbler quickly switched the radio off.

"Hey!" shouted his newly minted partner in the other seat. "I was listening to that!"

Tumbler kept his eyes on the road and his hooves on the steering wheel. "Mimic, we need to focus. We're about to come up to the Apple farm."

Mimic's green eyes lit up. "Finally, my first case in the Royal Police!" Mimic was a light green coated pegasus mare. Just yesterday she had been partnered with Tumbler. She was fresh faced definitely, and was quite excited to be out in the field instead of sitting behind a desk organizing papers and meticulously scanning signatures for forgery at her old job. "Corporate corruption, gangsters, the works! This is gonna be exciting!"

"It'll be exciting for five minutes then you're gonna feel like an old mare." Tumbler was a grey unicorn. He didn't show it, but he much loathed having a partner, especially one as green as Mimic. He couldn't hear himself think at times considering the bombardment of questions Mimic had for the operation of the Royal Police. He turned the wheel right onto a dirt road and the Royal Police modified automobile started jumping and shaking.

"Ah!" Mimic hit her head several times on the roof. The brown fedora sitting on her green and orange mane flattened into a heap. "Why can't we just walk there!? This is terrible!"

A violent bumped knocked Tumbler's fedora off but his own burst of magic caught it. "Because the Chief wants us to make an impression."

"An impression!?" Mimic gritted her teeth as she nursed her fedora back to an acceptable appearance. "Are we going to show up at the scene bouncing like a rabbit!?"

"If we have to." The Royal Police automobile struggled over the bumpy dirt road. Soon, apple trees were coming into view, and with it the little red house on the left by a large red barn.

This apple orchard was one of the largest and oldest in Equestria. Many of the Apple clan actually originated from what used to be called Applewoodland before setting off eastward. Sometime in the intervening years, the land part was subtracted and nopony really knows why. Still however, many apples call it their spiritual home and the best place to get strong apples for eating and cider apples for drinking.

Tumbler pulled the automobile up to the gate. Already there was a force of Los Pegasus Police on the scene. He exited along with Mimic who quickly hovered up to get a view of her surroundings. One of the uniformed officers, a sandy colored mare, spotted the fedora sporting ponies and marched on over.

She extended a hoof. "I'm Officer Sandy Swift." Before Tumbler could politely bump her hoof and introduce themselves, Mimic cut in.

"Mimic and Tumbler, Royal Police." Mimic invaded Swift's personal space to the point of nose contact. "Anything needs sweeping round here? Wait, don't tell me, I'm guessing this entire farm is a crime scene. I'll be the judge of that!"

Swift glanced around then back at Mimic. "... What?"

Tumbler pushed Mimic out of the way. "What can you tell us?"

Swift hesitated, eying Mimic very closely, then began her explanation. "Well, far as I can tell, it's a regular breaking and entering. The victim identified the perpetrators as griffons from one of the local griffon gangs." She pointed out towards the small house. It was a humble red two-story farm house. "Anyway, the victim is an apple farmer by the name of Apple Fritter. The rest of her family is out overseas selling apples to foreign markets."

Tumbler nodded. "Detectives get a statement?"

"Nah, they're not even here." Swift shrugged. "Usually breaking and entering is uniform work."

"Right, thanks for your help. We'll take a look around." Tumbler and Mimic walked past Swift and trekked up to the house. He spied the mailbox which marked the house's address as 5 Applewood Road. He took out a notepad and a pencil quickly wrote it down as he walked, to which Mimic proceeded to copy his actions in a hasty fashion. Tumbler noticed this and said to her, "Mimic, check around the farm for anything amiss."

Mimic's face lit up. "Ah! Looking for clues! I got you, Tumbler." She quickly zoomed around to the barn, nearly tackling a uniformed cop. Tumbler sighed. He missed the days when he could work alone and have his thoughts altogether with relative clarity. He stepped up to the porch and took a quick glance around. There were shallow claw marks around the completely shattered right window, Officer Swift did say griffons were the perpetrators. Judging by the amount of marks, he had to say around three or four griffons. He knocked on the door.

The Royal Police did not normally work for the corporations like Daring Industries. Generally, their role was more of matters regarding national security. As since Equestria's only armed forces consist of the incredibly small but elite Royal Guard and the numerous but currently inactive and slow to start Militias, the Royal Police's duty was an important one. Lately however, the Royal Police has been on Princess Celestia's crudlist for failing to stop or even predict the Royal Wedding disaster. Even today, Royal Police are still rooting out Changelings who escaped the explosion of love in various corners of Equestria. Even further, the Royal Police are still stretched thin from other issues such as illegal immigration, reintegration of the Crystal Ponies into the world, and attempting to capture the elusive outlaw Nacho Villa.

When Tumbler was assigned the case for the Daring Industries heist, he thought little of it, even joked about it to himself at his lonely desk back in Canterlot. Compared to everything else, it seemed like a cakewalk with milk and cookies. However, the CEO Daring Do was incredibly blunt as to how important that package was, not only to her friend, but to the rest of Equestria as a whole. It was quite the eye opener for him. He couldn't exactly say the same for his new partner, but for now they were the only Royal Police agents for miles. Equestria was counting on him and her.

Tumbler sighed in defeat.

The door opened, revealing an incredibly disheveled mare with a green mane. Apple Fritter, he guessed. Tumbler tipped his hat and said, "Tumbler, Royal Police. Would you mind answering a couple of questions?"

Apple Fritter paused, squinting at Tumbler, sizing him up for whatever reason. Just the earth pony way, always sizing everypony up, Tumbler thought. She sighed and opened the door further. "Yeah, come in."

Tumbler took off his hat as he walked in, as was proper unicorn etiquette back in Canterlot. Tumbler noted Apple Fritter's behavior, exhausted and relatively slow. The crime must have taken place earlier this morning, probably during the night. He examined the living room and found it in poor condition. The couch had been overturned, a few floorboards were ripped up, a cabinet was pushed over, old family portraits were lying on the floor in their broken frames, and even the ceiling appeared to have claw marks on it.

Apple Fritter sat down on the floor, yawning, taking the condition of her home disturbingly well. "Well, what do you want to know? Just so you know though, the rest of the house is just like this." Apple Fritter pointed out a doorway into what appeared to be a kitchen then over to the stairs leading to the second floor. "Completely ransacked."

"Well, can you give us the full story, Miss?"

"Right, well... It was about, 2 in the morning, I like getting up early ya see, lets me count the apples good. Anyway, I'm out in the barn, moving some of the apples around, counting them on account of since last week I had to help out one my cousins who had some of her stock get a worm infestation, when I hear some loud noises."

"Loud noises?"

"Yeah, just the general ruckus, banging, breaking glass, stuff like that. Turns out it was coming from my own home, so I rush in there on account of the fact that it's kinda mah property, see. So I saw that they broke in through the window there, so I open up the door, low and behold, a buncha griffons were inside tearing the place up! Before I knew it, they had me hogtied and lying on the floor. They was asking me questions on where this green package thing was, something about it saying 1903.MARK ONE, and where I had hidden it. I told them to go stuff their green package right up their hindquarters, on account of the fact that I didn't know in particular what this green package thing they was looking for, see. Anyway, they tear the place up, ripping up the floorboards, tearing down some wallpaper, knocking over cabinets, when they realize I really don't have their package thing. So they apologize, they actually left a few bits on the kitchen counter, and then they all just fly off into the night like ravens in a conspiracy. You follow me?"

Tumbler nonchalantly finished writing down the testimony to the letter in his notepad. "Yep." He flipped through a few pages then turned the pad over to Fritter. "Were these the griffons who broke into your home?" It was a sketch of two male griffons, bearing close family resemblance.

Apple Fritter squinted at the notepad and after a minute of close examination, she nodded. "Yeah, those are the varmints, they were calling each other brothers and such. Like-"

"Gilder and Gideon?"

Apple Fritter nodded. "How'd you guess?"

Tumbler withdrew the notepad. "Doesn't matter right now. Do you have a phone I can use, Miss?"

Apple Fritter broke her exhausted look into one of confusion. "A what?"

"A phone." Tumbler put his hoof to his ear to demonstrate. "You pick up it up and talk into it to speak to other people?"

"Oh, that!" Apple Fritter pointed to the kitchen. "Yeah, my sis had one of those installed a month ago, can't comprehend that newfangled technology. I mean, just a couple of years ago, I had to walk a whole hour to talk to a friend down in the city. Now, though, all I has to do is pick up that there phone and we're talking as if we're in the same room with each other!"

Tumbler headed into the kitchen. The kitchen was in no better shape than the living room was. The counter was covered in flour and sugar, the stools and chairs were overturned, and the fridge was emptied of its contents. The phone sat there on the counter, resembling a microphone with a receiver hanging on the side. Phones were a new way of communication thanks to the Crystal Empire and their utility crystals for everyday use. In this case, conventional phones often had a magic crystal that, when connected in the right spot, allowed for instantaneous communication with others on the same wavelength. Radios operated on that same principal as well. In fact, the Crystal Radio is one of the best selling items on the market.

Tumbler picked up the receiver and proceeded to dial the phone by spinning the rotary dial on certain numbers. He kept the receiver by his ear and kept his mouth close to the phone so he could be heard properly. After a minute of silence from the receiver, there was a click and the sound of rustling papers.

"Daring Industries, Secretariat speaking, how may I help you?"

"This is Tumbler from the Royal Police. I need to speak to Miss Do, please."

"Just a moment." The other end bumped and clicked before the line settled in on the new speaker, Daring Do.

Daring was straight to the point. "Have you found the rocket yet, Tumbler?"

"No, ma'am. We have new information though, courtesy of the resident apple farmer. A gang of griffons stopped by, two of them matched the description of the thieves. The farmer says they were looking for a green package, marked 1903.MARK ONE. Might not believe this, but I think those griffons might have lost that gizmo of yours."

"That's a new development then. Try and keep searching, stay in touch, Tumbler." The other end clicked. Tumbler hung up the phone. He turned around and immediately jumped backwards into the counter. Mimic had managed to sneak up behind him and apparently was waiting for him to finish his phone call quite patiently.

"I found a clue!" She held up her clue in her hoof. Tumbler examined it quickly with great scrutiny.

"That's a sprinkle," he said in the most deadpan manner possible.

"Yes, but what is a sprinkle doing on an apple farm?" Mimic raised her eyebrow in the most smug manner possible. Though Tumbler did find the notion ridiculous, he did have to wonder how sprinkles found their way onto an apple farm. His minute of hesitation however, allowed Mimic to continue. "Right, I'll continue investigating this strand of evidence then, Tumbler."

He'd have to ask Apple Fritter if one of them was eating donuts.

***

After their encounter with the object in the barn, Applejack and Fluttershy needed to visit someone who could figure out what it was. They needed to see the resident engineer of the town. A builder of many of the incomprehensible items that ran on their own power. An earth pony of grace, finesse, and cunning. The only one who could understand any sort of the advanced technology of their own design.

Pinkie Pie flipped through the booklet. She was uncharacteristically focused and attentive to every word on those pages. Even though they had woken her up at eleven at night and denied her any sort of sugar, she seemed to have the energy to read. Periodically she would nod, or grunt, or close the book then open it again and read through, or look at the object on the table. Applejack and Fluttershy sat down by a table in the dimly lit Sugarcube Corner. They were dozing off as Pinkie continued to read through the booklet.

Pinkie nodded with an affirmative grunt. Applejack snapped awake and tapped Fluttershy awake as well.

"So?" Applejack started.

Pinkie Pie happily looked at the duo and said, "I know some of these words!"

"Pinkie!" Applejack rubbed her eyes and walked over to her. "This is serious! What is this thing?"

"Well, judging from the illustrations... I'd say this is a rocket. Not one you set off and it goes BOOM like a firework, but like one you strap onto your back and you go ZOOM! Like that! According to this paragraph on the third page, it appears to run on magic, but apparently this magic is also supplanted by sugar! Can you believe that? Sugar! I love sugar!"

Applejack sighed. "We're aware."

"Anyway, the sugar in this rocket is supposed to 'insulate' the magic so it doesn't burn as quickly as it does in conventional magi-combustion engines." Pinkie turned the booklet over to Applejack and tapped a page. "This rocket can fly an estimated ten hours without pause before needing a new magic charge compared to the dual Toola Roola Red-Tail engines on a standard Daring C-3 Skytrain which can fly a full hour without the sugar supplementation."

Applejack curiously looked through the pages. "So... it's a magical sugar rocket?"

"Eeyup! Also says this baby can reach speeds of up to 300 miles per hour estimated but I could be wrong."

"Could be?"

"Well..." Pinkie's usual ear to ear grin seemed a little more cautious. "We'd have to test it."

"Whoa, whoa, Ah'm gonna stop ya right there, sugar. This thing could be dangerous! I mean, it blew a hole in mah barn and it scared the bejeezus outta me, Apple Bloom, and Fluttershy over there! There's no way we can safely test this thing! I propose we ain't testing this thing at all!"

***

"Ah can not believe ya managed to convince me to test this thing!"

In order to "safely" test the rocket, Pinkie had decided to grab a pegasus mannequin, some length of rope, and a railroad spike. They had chosen a little open field, the same one they had chosen for observing the Great Dragon Migration. Their little trench was still there and there, Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Twilight bunkered up.

Rarity rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Please remind me again why I'm out here?"

"We needed one of yer mannequins for the test," said Applejack in a quick and concise fashion. Pinkie and Applejack had dragged Rarity out of her bed in order to secure her mannequin. Applejack was quite insistent on not borrowing it without her permission.

Twilight took a sip from her mug of coffee. "Why am I out here?"

"'Cuz you're good with calculations," Applejack said again. They had also dragged Twilight out of bed, making sure not to wake Spike. Twilight however, could not operate at peak efficiency when being unexpectedly woken. Thus, the trench was readily equipped with a coffee machine, an abacus, and some reading material on mechanical aviation theory.

Twilight took out a notepad and a quill, ready for taking notes. "Still, a magical sugar powered rocketpack? I know you don't lie, Applejack, but that's a little far-fetched."

Applejack shrugged. "Well, that's the gist of what Pinkie says."

"Well, can we hurry this up?" Rarity yawned loudly. Her usually gloriously curled mane was all over the place and bags were already forming under her eyes. "Sleep deprivation is not good for my complexion."

"Clearly," said Applejack.

Pinkie drove the spike into the ground just several yards from the trench. Tied to the spike was the mannequin which was now wearing the rocket. The mannequin's wings were also slotted into the rocket's own. After making sure everything was secured, Pinkie posed the mannequin into a flying posture adopted by many pegasi. Satisfied and smiling, she waved over to Applejack. Applejack nodded and pulled out the big red button.

"Alrighty now, launchin' in 10..." Applejack was knocked out of the way by an incredibly excited Pinkie.

"Fire!" Pinkie screamed. She slammed her hoof down on the button. The rocket roared to life and immediately raced forward. The mannequin stopped as the rope ran out and soon, it was only spinning around pointed towards the night sky.

"Whoa." Twilight's eyes were wide in amazement, such that she did not break her gaze while taking notes. Rarity too was rendered slack-jawed at the sight. The five ponies watched in silent awe as the rocket rotated around, roaring and spouting flames like an angry dragon.

Applejack, however, was alerted by the faint but distinct sound of a rope tightening far too hard. She looked out and saw the rope. Before she could call out or do anything, the rope snapped. The ponies ducked for cover as the mannequin soared over their heads and went out rocketing into the night sky like a shooting star. The roar of the rocket became faint and indistinct and then completely gone.

"We lost it!" Pinkie popped up from the trench and stared out into the general direction of where the rocket went. "I knew I should have tested it myself!"

Applejack sat up as well, doing the same as Pinkie. "Yeah right! You'd be halfway cross the ocean by now." She turned towards Twilight, also squinting out into the distance. "How fast would you say that was, Twi?"

Twilight shrugged. "I don't know. It's definitely fast. Faster than any pegasi, with the exception of Rainbow Dash maybe. I'd need to run a few more tests on it though. If it ever comes back."

The ponies stood out there, watching for any sign of the rocket. A few minutes passed with nothing out of the ordinary happening. Pinkie frowned, her mane losing a bit of its fluff. But then, her tail twitched. She quickly dove to cover. All the other ponies minus Twilight also dove down into the trench. Twilight turned around confusedly, then she locked her eyes onto a rocket wearing mannequin approaching sub-sonic speeds heading directly for her. She ducked, the rocket barely missing her before it hit the ground, splattering the mannequin's wooden parts all over the ground and coming to a stop in a grouping of rocks.

Applejack hit the button and the rocket shut off with its mechanical whirring. The ponies galloped over to the rocket's resting spot.

Twilight stepped and began a close examination of the mannequin. "No scorching on the mannequin," she said. She looked over at the mannequin parts splayed over the ground, a leg over there, a leg somewhere else, and an unidentifiable piece resting in the rocks. "For what's it worth."

Applejack tapped the rocket's housing. "It must be some kinda cool propulsion thingy."

"Definitely. Judging by how fast it snapped the rope, there must be an incredible amount of force being created, and if force equals mass times acceleration..." Twilight began flipping through her notepad. Her tongue stuck out as she studied her calculations on the estimated velocity, mass, and aerodynamic capability. She looked up with a bright smile and said, "I have to say, this rocket is a marvel!"

Rarity ran her hoof over the rocket with arousal. "Yes, and I do say that this silver finish certainly flatters the smooth architecture of the design. There's something very Streamline Moderne about it."

Applejack took off her hat and dusted off some dirt, frowning. "Anyway, Ah think we meddled with this thing long 'nuff. We do that again, we might break it or somethin'." She picked up the rocket and hoisted it over her back and said, "Ah say we try and find it's owner, someone's bound to come lookin' for this thing."

"Wait!" Fluttershy popped out of the back and up to Applejack, nearly barreling the earth pony over. She immediately double backed and blushed. "Um... maybe we could... just borrow it?" The other ponies all looked at her as if she had just grown a second head. Fluttershy quietly stepped backwards, frowning and trying to hide herself in her long mane.

"Borrow it? We don't even know who this belongs to. Why would we borrow it, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy opened her mouth, then paused. After a few seconds she said, "Well... you'd pay to see a rocketpony right? With this thing, we could pay off the house and everything, and you all wouldn't have to work so hard for my sake." She smiled desperately.

Applejack shook her head, chuckling. "Oh, Fluttershy. Ah just told ya, you don't have to worry 'bout us."

"I know, but I want to try and help too." Fluttershy softly tapped her hoof on the ground. "I can't just sit and wait while you all work hard for my sake, that would devastate me."

"Fluttershy, ya don't have to-"

"Wait," said Twilight, "maybe Fluttershy has a point."

"Whatawhatisit?" Applejack turned to Twilight, bewildered. "Are you really- that's stealing, Twi'!"

Twilight nodded, scratching her chin. "But think about it, Applejack. We could make the six-thousand bits easily if we put on some kind of show, the Rocketmare or something!" Twilight pointed to Fluttershy, who shrank underneath the inevitable duty. "Fluttershy could fly the rocket, considering she's the only pegasus among us besides Rainbow Dash and it'd be safer that way. If I price it right, we could easily make the money we need in just over a week!"

Pinkie jumped for joy, bouncing in circles around the ponies. "Oh boy! Does this mean we get to play with a rocket! I always wanted a rocket!"

Applejack sighed. "Ah dunno, Twi'. That's still stealing."

"I know, Applejack." Twilight flipped her notebook shut, then looked down at the rocket. "But we can't just pass up an opportunity like this. This is a technological marvel, we're sure to able to pay off Fluttershy's house with this. If the owner comes by and claims it, we'll definitely give it back, no questions asked."

"... Well," said Applejack. "Rarity?"

Rarity considered it for a moment. She took a deep breath and then said, "Well, normally I don't condone stealing, but Fluttershy's situation is a little desperate at the moment."

She rubbed the back of her neck. She always hated it when things got grey around the edges, always made decisions harder. She kicked at the ground. "We're gonna need one heck of an excuse for why we're running round making money off their rocket then."

Pinkie picked up what was left of the mannequin. It's head had been diced into a pulpy wooden mess. She frowned and said, "I think we're gonna need a helmet."

---

Next Time On
The Mare of Tomorrow

"The Flim Flam Flying Circus is this weekend! Rainbow Dash is gonna be performing there alongside all kinds of stuntplanes and stuff!" Pinkie bounced with every word she said. "It'll be terrific!"

***

Fluttershy held the helmet in her hooves and examined it closely. The rest of the costume definitely helped conceal her identity. She was going to become a Rocketmare.

Author's Note:

The S-34 Skycruiser is an amalgation of the Saunders-Roe Princess and the experimental (but never produced) Dornier Do 214. The Princess in my honest opinion is an incredibly beautiful seaplane, but being made in 50s when jets and ground based planes were all the rage, it was unfortunately doomed to failure. The Dornier seaplane didn't even make it off the drawing board.

Funnily enough, seaplanes were all the rage in the early days of powered aviation. Dedicated airstrips were quite rare and it was believed hitting the water was safer than hitting the land. In fact, seaplanes were known for being incredibly fast for their time and they often held airspeed records. When airstrips became more common post WWII however, the seaplane craze sort of died out.

Crystal radios actually did exist at one point as the earliest form of radio. Complete with actual crystals that could only transmit stuff when poked in the right spot, referred to as "magic spots."

Streamline Moderne is an architectural element which emphasizes curves and long lines. A lot of the stuff in the 1940s like the cars, the toasters, and my god the trains were Streamline Moderne. Art Deco has a similar concept, but I stretch my limit even thinking about art. Art Deco and Streamline Moderne of course are important elements to consider in a Dieselpunk story considering these were the major architectural fads of the day.

Comments

[zaptiftun]

...I like this.

[Luna Aeterna Solutae]

This is officially my research piece.