Emerald looked at the course laid out in front of her while her physical therapist and trainer was arguing with his friend slash commanding officer.

“What are you thinking? This is something that we barely do in our routines because of how dangerous it is. Emerald might be a good flyer, but even I wouldn’t do this.”

“If she is as good as you say she is, then she’ll be fine Soarin. If she doesn’t want to do it then she doesn’t have too.” The female replied.

Emerald sighed as she looked at the course one last time before turning to walk away from the edge.

“See, she’s backing…” The female started to say before Emerald turn back around and took off at a run, her hooves pounding on the ground and her arms pumping hard.

She reached the edge of the platform and jumped, diving downward before extending her wings away from her back. Grunting slightly, she held her wings in position as the wind threatened to force them completely open.

Swinging wide of the course she surveyed it from several different angles. The course was made up of several dozen cloud columns and rings that were all a threatening gray colour and occasionally flickered with lightning within, the occasional stray bolt of lightning arcing between the columns.

Reaching the beginning of the course, Emerald swept her wings back and drove for the first set of columns. Salamoning between the pillars, she could smell the ionized air and feel the electricity in the air. Suddenly she dove out of instinct, just missing the bolt of electricity that passed through the space that she had just vacated.

Reaching the ring portion of the course, she passed through the rings, dead center, rolling slightly as she followed the path of the rings. Exiting that portion of the course she came up to one that would be the most difficult.

Rotating lighting bars that would stop and start randomly.

Gritting her teeth and narrowing her eyes, Emerald charged forward into the maze.

Her instincts began screaming at her as she entered the maze. Twisting and turning, diving and climbing, she arched through the maze. Using her primaries, she was able to make the minute adjustments to her course that kept her from getting fried.

As she approached the end of the course however, a stray bit of current arched out and hit her right leg. Clenching her teeth to prevent herself from screaming, Emerald opened her wings further to compensate for her now numb leg that was moving wildly in her slip stream.

Exiting the course, she arced up and over the platform where her trainer Soarin and his friend waited with dumbstruck expressions. Angling for the female, Emerald came crashing down, using the other mare as a crash pad.

“Oww! What the hay were you thinking?” The mare complained from under Emerald’s larger frame.

“That I wasn’t going to be able to land with this leg.” Emerald replied as she began to rub her now tingling leg, scorch mark easily seen.

“What happened Emerald?” Soarin asked as he checked over the pegasus.

“Got singed a bit on the last obstacle. Only got my leg though. Starting to get some feeling back in it. Don’t worry, I’ve had some bad crashes re-learning how to fly. Though I do have to ask, who is the cloud brained idiot that thought up this course?” She asked.

“Some Wonderbolt commander a few decades ago. Funny thing is she was killed on her first attempt running the course.” Soarin replied as he glared at his friend.

“She made it through and she said she is fine. No big deal.” The flame maned mare said unapologetically.

Emerald stood up, her leg shaking slightly before it took her weight. The other mare was forced to look up at the over two meter tall pegasus.

“You wanted me to get hurt out there. Maybe knock me down a few pegs? Probably because Soarin has be raving about my flying? Well listen up, because I am only going to say this once.” Emerald said as she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned over to get almost nose to nose with the mare. “I have zero desire to join your team Spitfire, especially if this is how you lead them. Just this little demonstration is enough to show me that you are going to get somepony killed eventually. I have no desire to be a part of that. Besides…” She said as she straightened up and walked over to where her bag was sitting. “I have a job that I enjoy, a decent apartment that I can keep stocked with food, and a few good friends to spend time with. What more does a mare need than that?” She asked before jumping off the platform again, wings open wide as she took off towards Manehatten.

Pumping her wings hard a few times to gain altitude, Emerald sighed as she locked her wings into a glide position. She enjoyed Soarin’s company and his stories about his career in the bolts, but she really hated his CO. The demonstration today just proved the point that she had raised to Soarin that Captain Spitfire had a reckless disregard for life. Soarin always provided some weak defense to his superior’s actions, but lately they seemed to be even less earnest.

Soon the mare was descending into Manehatten. The local flight control didn’t like for pegasi other than the weather teams flying within city limits. Touching down she began jogging towards her destination: Rusty Sprocket’s Garage.

Rusty was a childhood friend of Swiftwind and gave her a chance at his garage as he was needing help at the time.

Emerald smiled as she recalled the day that she had been brought to the little shop.

One month prior

“So where are we headed Swift?” Emerald asked the smaller pegasus.

“To a friend of mine’s garage. He mentioned a couple of days ago that one his mechanics had quit suddenly due to a family emergency. Now apparently they are drowning in work and getting close to some deadlines. I figured that we could see if your special talent would be of any use here.” Swiftwind replied.

Emerald nodded. “Fair enough. I do need to find work and hopefully it can be something better than flipping hayburgers.”

“Be nice Em, you know that the folks that flip those burgers have their own issues.”

“I know. I just don’t want to be one of them. That is one path that does not appeal to me.” Came the reply from the larger mare.

The pair chuckled slightly as they approached a decently sized brick structure. From within came the sounds of pneumatic tools and grinders. The smell of grease, oil, and hot metal was strong in the air.

“Wait here while I get Rusty, okay?” Swiftwind said to her companion.

“Okay.” Came a slightly distracted reply as the doctor walked off.

Emerald’s eyes were wide as she looked around the yard at the many vehicles that were in various states of repair. There was one that had caught her eye though, a powerful looking car sitting off to the side of the apron in front of the doors with its hood up. Moving towards it, she felt something telling her what was wrong with the vehicle.

Leaning into the engine compartment her eyes roved over the engine, alighting on several defects. Loose electrical connection here, leaking seal there, part of a head gasket missing between the cylinders.

“I thought I asked you to stay back by the building.” Swiftwind said with exasperation.

Emerald snapped out of the hyper focused state she was in.

“Sorry Swift.” She said with a blush as she rubbed the back of her head nervously. “Something just drew me over to this car. I was able to spot several issues with it right off.”

“I’m impressed. Not many ponies can tell a problem just by looking at it.” A red-orange furred Earther stallion said from next to Swiftwind. “Tell me what you found.” He continued as he crossed his arms.

Emerald blinked at the stallion’s request. “Okay. Over here there is a loose connection between the mana converter and the ignition system, could be causing a short that is killing the motor when you go over a bump. Then there is this seal here.”She said pointing to an out of the way connection that was normally buried under the air handler. “It is most likely a coolant leak, judging from the deposits around the fitting. Then you have a chunk of the head gasket missing on the left hand side of the motor. Looks like it is in between cylinders. Probably having some performance issues because of it.” She finished as she pointed out the issues.

The stallion chuckled. “Not bad, not bad at all. Name’s Rusty Sprocket. Swift here tells me you need a job.” He said as he extended a hand to shake.

Taking the offered hand, she said: “Emerald Gear. And she would be correct. I got released from the hospital the other day and she has been kind enough to let me crash at her place. I think she might be getting annoyed at the food bill since taking me in.” The mare finished in a mock whisper.

“More of annoyed of how you never seem to put any weight on from it. I mean seriously, where does it all go?” The red maned doctor groused.

“I told you, I have a high metabolism. Can’t be this big and not have an appetite.” The golden furred pegasus replied as she waved her hand over her body.

Rusty laughed at the pair’s antics.

“Well, I can tell you that you were able to find the issues that we know about so far. Car just came in today. What say that you come in tomorrow morning first thing and work on fixing it? I should have the parts this evening so you should be able to get it running again if you have the skill for it.” He said once his laughter subsided.

Today

Since then, Emerald had been working for Rusty and his garage. Each day she had proved her worth to the other two mechanics who worked there, a unicorn mare and another Earther stallion.

Approaching the garage, Emerald noticed that there was a white limousine with a number of Royal Guards in their armour standing around it in front of the shop.

Nodding to the unicorns, she headed into the shop.

“Hey bossman, what’s with the limo out front with the statues?” She called out as she entered the office.

A laugh greeted her ears.

“Well my little pony, they seem to insist that they accompany me everywhere I go.”

Emerald raised an eyebrow at the speaker.

“Pardon my bluntness, but what are you doing in our little shop Your Highness?” She asked.

Princess Celestia smiled as Rusty sputtered at Emerald’s nerve.

“I had heard that there was an interesting flying machine that had been left here after the previous owners ran afoul of some unhappy customers. I was hoping to see it.” The alabaster alicorn replied.

Emerald nodded. “Yeah, those two. The principles are sound but the way they tried to power it was amateurish and impossible to maintain.”

“How so?”

“The idiots used their own magic to power it. Seems they suffer from the same issue that a lot of unicorns suffer from, otherwise known as being a pompous ass. If they had used the same system as the ground vehicles then it would have been a better product.” Emerald explained.

“I see you are knowledgeable about such matters. Do you have any ideas to make the craft better?” Celestia asked.

Emerald motioned for Celestia to follow her.

“I’ve spent a few hours on it and I have made some design changes on paper that should work, but we’ve got other more pressing projects that I’ve had to focus on.” The pegasus said as she rolled out a set of drawings she had worked on during her breaks and lunches. “I had to design another engine because of how underpowered the current one is. I considered boring out the cylinders, but they are barely thick enough to work right now. What those two shysters used to make this thing, I have no idea.” She finished, gesturing to the wood and canvas biplane just visible through the window.

“I notice that your design has just one wing rather than the two on the one outside. Why is that?” Celestia asked as she looked over the drawings.

“Well Your Highness, that has to do with the fact I needed something stronger than the wood frame to handle the weight and the torque of the engine. The design that I have here is an all metal frame and skin. The superstructure is titanium and the skin is aluminum.” Emerald explained as she pointed out weight estimates and projected power output for the design.

Celestia hummed thoughtfully as she continued to examine the designs. “What would it take for you to make this craft?” She asked finally.

Emerald raised an eyebrow. “Truthfully, I would need someplace at least triple this size just to form and machine the parts, let alone put it together. Add in a runway at least a mile and a half long and plenty of space to fly.” She replied after a moment's thought as she lean back against her workbench.

Once again looking thoughtful, Celestia nodded. “I see. I thank you for this bit of insight, it has provided me some food for thought.”

“Not a problem, Your Highness.” Emerald replied with a respectful nod.

“Ms Gear, pardon my asking, but why is it that you aren’t tripping all over yourself as my other subjects do?” The alicorn asked.

“Well Your Highness, my memories stop as of eight months ago when I woke up in the hospital after being in a coma for two months. I know who you and your sister are, but I don’t have the memories of the deification that you two seem to have. Plus I figure that you have been around for at least fifteen hundred years. Myself, I would get tired of the bowing and scraping after a decade or so. Having to deal with it for a thousand years? Bleagh.” Emerald said, pulling a face at the end.

Celestia laughed again. “I have to agree with that. I also appreciate the honesty and frankness. I have too many yes ponies that will agree with me no matter what.So what is it that you are calling this craft?” She asked pointing at the drawings.

Emerald smiled. “I call it the Thunderbolt. Just seems appropriate.”

“Indeed. Have a good day Ms Gear, and again, thank you for the information.” Celestia said as she turned to leave.

“Again, it was no problem. Have a good rest of the day, Your Highness.” Emerald replied.

Once Celestia left, Rusty came into the back of the workshop.

“For a minute there, I thought you were a goner.” He said.

Emerald chuckled. “You know, she isn’t as uptight as everyone seems to think.”

“Apparently, what was it that she wanted?”

“Just asked some questions about the biplane that those brothers sold you. She asked if I had any ideas for improvement and I showed her my sketches. She even asked what it would take for me to build it.” The mare replied.

“Really? What did you tell her?” Rusty asked.

“I told her I would need a place triple this size to do the work and a runway a mile and a half long to make sure I had the space if something went wrong and plenty of space to fly it in.” Emerald said as she walked over to her toolbox.

“Trying to leave us so soon Gear?”

“Not at all. She asked and I told her what it would realistically take. What she does with that isn’t really my business.” She said as she pulled out some tools and turned to her latest project.

“Yeah, I give it a month and you will be off doing work for her building those planes.” Rusty said.

“You really think so?” She asked as she began to disassemble the brakes on a pickup.

“It wouldn’t be the first time that a promising prodigy was given an opportunity like that.” The stallion replied as he walked away.

Emerald paused and looked over her shoulder at her boss.

“Huh.” She said before turning back to her task.

Author's Note

Been a bit, but I think that this should make up for it. As far as the plane that Emerald sketched out, this is it:

Some bits of her past a leaking through in the form of her advanced designs and engineering capabilities, so expect some old warbirds making appearances in the story as it progresses.