New Beginnings

Emerald gave a contented sigh as she finished pushing the doors to the hanger at her new workshop open.

Smiling to herself at the thought that the business was all hers. Contingent upon her actually being able to deliver on her contract with the Crown that is.

Heading into the shop, she moved over to the stand that had the powerplant for her new aircraft, the Thunderbolt.

Realizing that the engine that was on the biplane that was formerly owned by the Flim Flam brothers was a solid design, if underpowered and prone to failure, she upgraded and upsized the engine, then slapped two of them together with a shared output shaft. Coupled with the paddle bladed props that she had finished machining last week, the engine would be a power house.

Kicking off the brakes on the stand supporting the engine, Emerald hooked the stand up to the small tug that had been provided and hopped into the seat and began pulling the engine to the testing pad.

As she drove along, she looked around at the area that the hanger and flightline had been constructed.

Off to one side there was a series of mountains, to the opposite side was the Everfree Forest. The forest was some cause for concern with some of the more vicious beasts know to Equestria located within it’s boundaries. Fortunately there were very few instances of any of the creatures leaving the boundaries of the forest, and they were generally handled quickly.

Soon enough, Emerald reached the testing area and began securing the engine to the ground. As she finished securing the last chain to the anchors embedded in the concrete, she heard the sound of hooves on concrete. Looking up she smiled at the sight of the new comer, Twilight Sparkle.

When Emerald had arrived in Ponyville three months ago, she had met the unicorn and her friends at a welcome party thrown by the local party planner, Pinkie Pie. As it turns out, Twilight was the personal student of Celestia and had a voracious appetite for knowledge. Having heard from her teacher about the project when construction had started on the small airfield and manufacturing facility, she leapt at the opportunity to learn something new. Over the course of three months, barring interruption from the occasional issue that required the Bearers of Harmony to intervene, Twilight had shown up almost daily for a few hours to learn about aviation from the golden furred pegasus and a fast friendship had bloomed.

“Hey Twi, ready to get this thing going?” Emerald asked as she stood up and dusted her hands off.

“Of course. We’ve been working on this for a while. It wouldn’t be right to not see this through.” The lavender unicorn replied.

Emerald laughed as she began to hook up the control wires and cables to the engine. “Very true. Just let me get these controls hooked up and we can head over to the station.”

Soon enough the controls were connected and verified as secure and the two mares were at the control station.

“Ready to hear this baby roar?” Emerald asked the unicorn.

“Yes. Let’s see if our hard work payed off.” Twilight replied.

Emerald nodded and began to flip the switches that provided power to the magnetos that would start the engine. Placing her hand on the starter switch, she looked at the unicorn and got a nod.

“Contact!” She called out as she turned the switch.

The propeller slowly lurched into motion, and then the engine caught, roaring to life.

Emerald smiled widely at Twilight before reading over the gauges on the console. Seeing everything was reading normal, she advanced the throttle slowly up to full, the engine roaring in response as the power increased.

After twenty minutes of testing the engine at various power levels and propeller pitches, they shut down the engine.

Once the propeller stopped spinning, Emerald grabbed Twilight in a hug and spun her around, giving a cheer.

“It works! It works! It works!” She shouted with a laugh, before putting the smaller mare back on the ground.

“We should do something to celebrate this.” Twilight said with a smile.

“You’re right.” Emerald said as she calmed down some. “What should we do?”

“Well, how about dinner. Someplace where we can discuss the rest of the project?” Twilight said tentatively.

Emerald considered the idea. “Sure, where and when?” She asked.

“Well, I can see about getting reservations at Le Bleu for this Saturday. How does that sound?” The lavender unicorn put out.

Emerald considered this. Fancy restaurant meant that they would be able to discuss the project with little interruption, but it meant that Emerald would have to break down and get of all things, a dress.

‘But then again, would it really be that much of a pain since I would be spending the evening with such a beautiful and intelligent mare?’ The pegasus thought before responding. “Sure. Let me know the time and I can meet you at the library and we can walk over.” She said finally.

“Of course. I’ll go and set it up now and let you know the time later. I’ll see you later.” Twilight replied, giving the taller mare a hug before teleporting away.

Emerald smiled at the unicorn’s antics. “She really is too adorkable.” She said to herself before going to retrieve the engine and store it away in the hanger.

The bell over the door of Carousel Boutique rang as Emerald entered the store.

“Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is… oh hello Emerald, what brings you by today?” Rarity inquired as she spotted her friend.

“Well, you know how Twilight and I were testing the Wasp engine today?” Emerald asked.

“Yes I do. How did it go?” The cobalt maned unicorn asked as she led the way to her sitting room.

“Very well actually. Which leads me to my reason for coming by. Twilight invited me to dinner. At Le Bleu. On Saturday. Still waiting to find out what time the reservation is for. Why are you looking at me like that?” Emerald asked after explaining her situation to the wide eyed mare.

Rarity was silent for a moment before letting out a quite unladylike squee.

“Oh this is wonderful darling. I’ve always thought that Twilight needed to meet somepony, but with her normal social awkwardness I never thought I would get to see it.” She said as she began to dart around her work room. “Am I right in assuming that you need a dress for the occasion my dear?”

Emerald blinked, once again astounded at the mare’s fine control of her telekinesis.

“Yes, I do. Something that looks nice, but not festooned in gems please. I like jewelry as much as the next mare, but I prefer simple things.” She responded as she saw a series of gems float out of a chest.

Rarity huffed before saying, “Very well, though I hope you aren’t wanting a little black dress. It would clash horridly with your fur and given your height, it would run the risk of being obscene.”

“Fair enough, I was going to trust your judgement. I build planes, my knowledge of fashion is limited to is it comfortable and how hard will it be to get grease out of it.” Emerald said with a grin.

Rarity rolled her eyes before gesturing to the partitioned area of the boutique. “Please step behind the partition and disrobe down to your undergarments.”

Emerald stepped behind the wall and did so.

“Okay Rarity, I’m ready.” She called out.

The other mare stepped around the divider with measuring tapes and a dress that wasn’t there before.

“Okay, I know you work fast, but that is ridiculous.” The pegasus said.

The dressmaker tittered. “Oh darling, you might dislike dresses, but there are occasions when one has to step out of her comfort zone as it were. So as with most of my friends I have the a few basic designs that are a bit too large so I can make the necessary alterations to ensure it fits correctly when they are ready to wear it”

Emerald looked down at the unicorn as she measured and pinned. “You do realize that I am paying you for this dress, right?” She said with a raised brow.

Rarity smiled. “Of course darling. While you will accept gifts, you prefer to earn what you have. An admirable quality.” The mare replied.

Emerald smiled. “Also, if Twilight comes in, don’t mention anything that we have talked about. Also, do not try and follow us on Saturday. I highly doubt anything of any real interest is going to happen.” The pegasus said.

Emerald whistled to herself as she approached the tree library where Twilight kept residence. Approaching the front door she entered the public portion of the library.

“Hey Emerald! Lookin’ good!”

Emerald turn to see Spike shelving some returns.

“Hey Spikey! Thank you very much. I’m not big on fashion, but Rarity does do good work.” She said greeting the young drake.

“Yeah, she is something else, isn’t she?” He said with a dreamy look on his face.

Emerald chuckled. “Okay Romeo, where’s Twilight?”

Spike shook himself from his thoughts. “Oh, she’s upstairs getting ready.” He replied gesturing to the stairs that lead to the residence wing of the library.

Just as Emerald looked towards the stairs a door opened and Twilight stepped out onto the landing. Emerald’s breath caught as she observed the unicorn.

Her mane had been styled into a Prench braid that draped over her shoulder. Her dress was a dark blue that went well with her lavender fur and clung to her curves that were normally hidden beneath her usual attire of button down shirts, pullover sweaters and long skirts.

After a couple of moments, Emerald found her voice. “Well, don’t you look amazing this evening.” She said.

Twilight blushed. “Thank you, Rarity helped out alot. You don’t look too bad yourself.” She replied looking over the pegasus.

Emerald did a little turn causing the end of her dress to flair out, her hair was done up in a bun with two ringlets coming down to frame her face. “Thanks. I figured I would do something different since we are going somewhere fancy.”

“Well, it looks good on you.” Twilight said with a shy smile.

“Thank you.” Emerald said with a nod. “Now, I do believe that we have a reservation to get to. So, milady.” Emerald added holding her arm out to the unicorn, causing her to giggle before descending the stairs and taking to offered arm.

The pair exited the library and headed to the restaurant district of Ponyville.

“So want to make a bet that the girls will be hiding out along the path to or at the restaurant to see what happens?” Emerald said with a mischievous smile.

“What kind of bet?” Twilight asked.

Emerald thought for a moment. “Well, how about another date, winner gets to pick what we do?” She asked with a smile.

Twilight blushed cutely before replying. “You want to go out with me?” She asked quietly.

“Why wouldn’t I? You’re a beautiful intelligent mare who is a lot of fun to be around.” Emerald replied with a gentle smile while taking the unicorn’s hand and squeezing gently.

Twilight smiled brightly, her cheeks still rosy, before replying. “What if they don’t show up? What happens then?”

“Still go on a date, but I get to pick the place and the activity.” Emerald replied. “Win-win for us both.” She finished with a smile.

The pair laughed at that as they approached the restaurant. Upon reaching the door, they saw a sign that dampened the mood.

‘Closed due to private party.’

“But but but, I made the reservation on Monday! How could someone have rented the whole restaurant?” Twilight exclaimed.

Emerald peeked through one of the windows. “Well judging by the attire and general appearance of the patrons, I would have to say someone from Manehatten. Though what they are doing out here I have no clue.” She said after a moment.

Twilight slumped. “I was hoping that this evening was going to be perfect.”

Emerald pulled the smaller mare into a hug. “No such thing as perfect hun. Now let’s go somewhere else. See if we can’t salvage our evening?” She said as she led her down the road.

Soon the pair came up to another restaurant where they could hear a multitude of conversations.

“Berry’s Biergarten? A bar? Seriously?” Twilight asked.

“It’s not just a bar. It is primarily a restaurant that has an impressive alcohol selection. Food is pretty good and decently priced. Plus they always have a few open tables, even on a Saturday.” Emerald replied as she opened the door.

The sound of conversation and music washed over the pair as they entered. After saying hello to the greeter, the pair were lead to a booth in a relatively quiet corner of the main floor. Soon a waitress approached their table.

“Hello, I’m Holly Feather and I will be taking care of you this evening. Can I get you started with a drink?” The raven maned unicorn asked the pair with a Trottingham accent.

Emerald and Twilight looked at each other for a moment before Emerald replied. “Water for now, depending upon how the night goes we might get something stronger.” Then she cocked her head to the side. “Are you new, I usually come in once or twice a week and I haven’t seen you before.”

The mare laughed lightly, causing Emerald to get a sense of deja vu. “I just started this week, Been here in town for a while, but my savings has been getting a little thin so I decided to get a second job. Berry’s a good boss.” She replied.

“Okay, well welcome and I hope you enjoy it here. I know I do when I come in.” Emerald said with a smile before the mare headed off to get their drinks.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What was that about?”

“I get the feeling that I know that mare from somewhere, but I can’t put my finger on it.” Emerald replied with a pensive look on her face.

“Could she be someone that might have known you before Discord?” Twilight asked.

“Maybe, but who knows, didn’t seem like she recognized me.” Emerald replied just before Holly returned with a tray of drinks, one of which was bubbling ominously.

“I thought I just asked for water.” Emerald said as the mare pulled out a stick that looked to have three berries carved along the length and made of a pale white wood. She then swished it through the air a few times and the sound of the other patrons died down.

“There, got a few privacy wards up. Now for you.” She said before pointing the stick at Emerald’s head.

Emerald’s eyes widened before rolling back into her head as a white bolt of light left the stick and struck her in the forehead.

Twilight turned to the mare and yelled, “What did you do to her?!?”

Holly sat down next to the unicorn calmly and stated. “I unlocked her memories. She’ll be out for a few minutes, the wards that I put up will keep anyone from noticing.”

Twilight was stunned at the response. “But how were you able to do that?”

“Because like she was saying I do know her. Just not from this lifetime.” Holly replied as she set a glass of water in front of Twilight and the bubbling tankard near the pegasus.

“What do you mean this lifetime?” Twilight asked, confused at the turn the evening had taken.

“When I knew her, she was my adopted mother. I was an orphan who was in a very bad situation with my guardians at the time. She rescued me from it and helped me become a better person. We haven’t seen each other for a very long time.” Holly replied with a nostalgic look on her face.

“How long ago was that?” Twilight asked.

“At last count, over ten thousand years ago. Though varying circumstances we wound up making ourselves truly immortal.” Holly replied.

“How..” Twilight began.

“For me it was uniting three very powerful magical artifacts. A wand, a stone, and a cloak. The cloak was a family heirloom, passed down for generations. The stone was used for the family ring of a dark mage that tried several times to kill me. The wand was one with a very bloody history since its creation nearly three centuries before it came into my possession. At that point, once I had reunited all three items, well I was pretty well screwed at even a chance to have a semi normal life.”

“Why is that?” Twilight asked.

“Because I became the Hand of Death within the mortal realms. The three items,” Here she gestured to the wand sitting on the table. “Were created by Death after three wizard brothers were able to cheat Death using their magic and ingenuity. Over time the artifacts fell into legend and were mostly forgotten. But before I turned eighteen, I had united the wand, the stone, and the cloak and became the ‘Master of Death’. Kind of a misnomer actually, because I wasn’t Death’s master, but its trusted hand in the mortal realms.” Holly explained. “I can give you a copy of the story of the Three Brothers later for you to read. It is written as a fairy tale, but it has its roots in the truth.” She finished as Emerald began to stir.

“Damn it kit, did you really have to do that here? I have got such a crick in the neck now.” The pegasus groused as she rubbed her neck.

“Please, like I haven’t had to do this before? Getting real tired of having to jog your memories mum.” Holly replied with a smirk. “Now drink your mead. I’m sure you need a stiff drink.”

Emerald looked at the bubbling tankard with wide eyes.

“Is this what I think it is?” She asked with a small amount of reverence in her voice.

“Asgardian Mead. Yup, I pop in from time to time to give old Thor heart palpitations from teaming up with Loki to prank the hell out of them.” Holly replied.

“Ever the Marauder aren’t you kit?” Emerald asked.

“Well of course. I am the daughter, god-daughter, and niece of three of them.” Holly replied with a smirk.

“So, you are really an immortal alien that just looks like a pegasus?” Twilight asked quietly.

Emerald sighed. “I suppose that you could look at it that way. But I think that in reality, when I was brought here, my body was still reforming from the damage that it took from the detonation of the Nova. The local magic was what determined my current appearance. So far as I am concerned, I am as much a pegasus as if I had been born here. I don’t plan to change that or really anything about what I have been doing.” She said.

“Really? Why not? Surely you have access to advanced technology that can do amazing things.” Twilight replied.

Emerald nodded. “I do. As a matter of fact, I could do a cultural uplift on this planet and have you traveling the stars inside a century. However, I have seen what happens when a race is given advanced technology that they are not ready for. It is never pretty.”

“What happened?”

“Pretty much wiped themselves out every single time. Or caught the attention of an even more advanced alien race besides the one that gave them the technology that decides they need to be knocked down a few pegs.” Emerald said as she took a drink of her mead. “I will, however, be slowly introducing new concepts and ideas that will eventually reach the end that the peoples of this world will reach to the stars and see what is out there. Benefit of being immortal, you know how to make subtle nudges to have things go the way you want, without anyone ever realizing that you did anything. A word here, a gentle push in this direction, a suggestion there. All can bring about great things.” She finished.

“Do you think Princess Celestia does that?” Twilight asked.

“Most definitely. She has been in power for well over a thousand years. Things have definitely improved over time and given that she personally picked me for working on my airplanes, she is wanting things to advance. However, I doubt that she realizes how fast aviation is going to evolve.” Emerald said.

“What do you mean?” Twilight inquired, her curiosity piqued.

“On the world that I lived for a good number of years and the world Holly came from originally, they went from the canvas and wood biplanes that could barely fly for half an hour to landing missions on the moon in less than sixty years. There were constant advances that pushed the envelopes of speed, height and distance being made every day. New manufacturing processes could cut weight of the airframes without sacrificing strength or payload. Engines became more efficient with no sacrifice to power. Things like that and a curious nature that lead them to explore allowed mankind to reach out to the stars.” Emerald said.

“Wow.” Was all that Twilight could say.

“Yup. Now I think that we have had enough excitement for one night. Holly, can we get something to go? I think an early night would do us good.” Emerald said.

“Sure, give me a few minutes.” Holly said as she stood up, taking down the wards.

Soon enough Emerald walked Twilight home, and bid her goodnight after promising to plan a better date for later. After that Emerald made her way home.

‘Well, this night didn’t quite go the way I wanted it to, but hopefully I can make it up to Twilight. In the meantime, need to sort out my memories.’ Emerald though to herself as she put her food away and got changed for bed.

Laying down, she smiled to herself. ‘Look out Equestria, Kerra is back and ready to have a good time.’