The train hummed with the sound of passengers as Ponies entered or departed from the carriages. The station, which the train was resting in, was small in comparison to the majority of that particular train's route. In comparison to its size the crowd that thronged the platform was massive. The station was part of the small town of Bridle-down. Though small and quaint, it annually displayed the mechanical work of engineers from all over Equestria. This competition was what had caused the crowds at the station. This had continued though out the day, until the exhibition had started to close up for the day.
The Sun was sinking beneath the horizon and the majority of those ponies who had traveled into town for the exhibition had made their way back home. The station was mostly quite in the dimming light. A cat hopped from rail to rail across the tracks, pausing every now and again as if to temp a train to materialize before it. But it soon made it over to the platform and with a small leap scaled the two-foot platform. It sat contentedly as it leisurely looked up and down the tracks. Further along the platform a young light grey Stallion was scanning the station timetable in frustration. The timetable slowly rotated on its gears, flicking through the train time as steam escaped the mechanism. This same stallion was also the first thing to disturb the station silence.
"I don't believe it."
The stallion said in annoyance "Not again." He turned sending a kick in the Timetables direction. Though half hearted the kick still connected with the gears, jamming the mechanism. The stallion shook his head trying to get and unruly lock of his midnight blue main out of his eye, before walking down the platform. He sat down with a sigh on one of the benches lining the platforms back wall and preceded to tap himself on the head while he could be heard muttering the word 'stupid' under his breath. He had missed the train; he was always doing stuff like this. Never more than once a day, but it was always vital. In the distance a pressure release whistle went off dragging the Stallion out of his self-loathing. He got up and went over to pick up his saddlebags from where he had dumped them whilst consulting the timetable. Grabbing them in his mouth his slung it over his flank. Once he had adjusted it his gaze then fell upon the jammed timetable. He gave a smile sigh. Bringing a hoof up he bumped the jammed cog. The mechanism whirred into life, scrolling threw missed updates with a loud clicking that echoed around the empty platform.
The stallion waited and read the updated train timetable hoping he'd misread the damnable the first time round. With little change to the train times that affected him he gave a grumbled of annoyance. He was about to kick the timetable again when the stationmaster walked onto the platform. The stallion quickly made as if he was just stretching and not breaking station property. The stationmaster looked at his quizzically before heading over. The stationmaster was a much older stallion, his graying mustache and his slowly wrinkling face giving his age away.
"Are you Blueprints?" The Stationmaster asked walking over, his mustache twitching above his slightly open mouth, framing in yellowing teeth.
Blueprints nodded with uneasy, curious as to why the stationmaster would know his name.
"Ah, good. A telegram arrived for you." The stationmaster said before reaching into his well kept though aging, blue uniform to bring out the telegram. Blueprints took it from him, unfolding the shabby piece of paper. Once open he recognized the rail networks symbol meaning that the telegram had been sent to through the stations telegram office. He then returned his attention back to message and began to scan the lines of typed text. The stationmaster continued peering at his pocket watch, which he had retrieved from within his uniform "I'm curious why you're on my platform this late, we don't get another train through here till tomorrow morning." Barely able start reading the telegram Blueprint looked and with a sigh said "Don't I know it."
Blueprints again turned his full attention back to the telegram in his hoof. Not even a line in, he new it had come from his overprotective mother. He couldn't blame her; he was the only member of the family who didn't have wings. He had been told repeatedly that his wingless state was due to a great, great, great, grandfather on his father's side, it had been an explanation repeated so many times, he knew she was going to say it even before she said herself. Though unable to fly he had been able to walk on clouds, which had given his father all the justification he needed for not moving out of Cloudsdale. Looking back keeping an eye on a son that with one wrongly placed hoof could fall out of the sky; his wingless life ending before it even began. Blueprint presumed that a mum in the same situation would have been 'slightly' overprotected, although he did hate it even if it was for his own sake.
The telegram was just a prime example of his mother's overly protective attitude towards him. But in this case he was grateful for it. Blueprint chuckled; his mother had predicted his forgetfulness and had booked him onto the inter-settlement airship. He slipped the telegram into his saddlebag, before letting a smile of relief grace his lips. His eyes wondered across the platform falling upon the stations clock. Its specifications was similar to the station cloaks commissioned by the rail network for Celestia's 500 year jubilee, but to Blueprints trained eye the majority of its brass parts had been replaced leaving it a ghost of its former self. It was then when he finally noticed the time on its face.
19:50
"Oh, sweet Celestia, I'm going to miss the flight!" He stated galloping past the stationmaster his hooves clattering against the stone platform as he began to gain speed, shouting back his gratitude at the confused stationmaster for passing on the telegram. Exiting the station he quickly disappeared into the rustic streets of Bridle-down.
The cat hadn't really taken any notice of the commotion and had lazily continued to watch the world go by from his position on the edge of the platform.
Blueprints made good time, despite his poor start off, through the small streets of Bridle-down, the clattering of his hooves echoing around the quite houses. As he rounded another corner he thought back to the throng on ponies that had previously filled the town to bursting point earlier that day for the exhibition. Luckily for him the town center was off his route letting him avoid those ponies staying in town, by going round the main cafes and bars.
19:55
He had been amazed at the prototypes he had seen from mono-winged planes, to new high-powered miniature steam engines. He had found it all inspiring, giving him new ideas for his own future projects. He looked up over the slated rooftops to the airship-docking tower starting to rise above the surroundings. Glancing at a row of clocks in a jeweler's window as he passed, he grimaced seeing the time. Though making good speed he could only hope that the airship was either waiting for him or had been delayed by some unforeseen event.
19:57
Blueprints reached the edge of Bridle-down and was greeted by the sight of his transportation. The airship was waiting silently, giving out little puffs of steam from its coal-fueled engines, which, to Blueprints eyes, made it seem that it was impatient to take off. It was small in comparison to some of the large passenger ships that traveled between the cities, but that didn't matter. Its size and shape could only mean it was a supply ship, most likely a modified Kestrel class. This conclusion was backed up by the large crates being loaded in by the dockworkers that he could see moving over the boarding ramp high above him. Smiling with relief he galloped over to base of the docking tower, its gothic, brass and steel architecture seeming to touch the sky.
Once he had entered the docking tower he made a beeline for the elevator that sat idly at the core of the building. He was stopped however by a cough, which echoed around the pipe covered walls. He turned to see a maroon colored pony sitting behind a ticket booth, her large green eyes staring daggers at him. Unable to think of a reason for how he could have upset the mare he trotted over.
"Good evening Ma'am, I was…" Blueprints began to address the elderly mare before he was cut off.
"Don't you 'Good Evening me," She almost growled "do you expect to just prance in here with out presenting your ticket. And worst of all…" She pointed menacingly at the now completely confused Blueprints. "You've ruined 'my' entrance hall!"
Blue prints just gave her a blank look before saying "Do you treat all passengers like this?" As soon as the words left his mouth he knew it had been the wrong thing to say. The mare just stared at him again making the stallion shrink back away from the booth.
"Don't you DARE back chat me young'un. For your information I only treat those try to enter the docking levels without a ticket like this. Let alone those who also trail mud across my entrance hall."
This was the moment Blueprints looked back. In his haste to make up time he had cut across a field to reach the tower. This meant that the marble floor from the open front entrance, to the elevator and then to his current position at the ticket booth was covered in muddy hoof prints.
He slowly turned back to the ragging mare giving her a sheepish grin. "I'm so sorry."
"So, what is it that you're here for?" she asked calming down a bit, now that the offending stallion had apologized.
Taking a deep breath, hoping to Celestia that he didn't ruffle the mare's mane more than he already had done, he began to talk. "I'm here to catch a flight."
The words were barely out of his mouth when the sharp tone of the ticket desk operator cut in. "All passenger for the day have finished, if you'd like to get a room in town you can catch a flight in the morning."
"You misunderstand; I'm here to catch a private cargo flight."
The mare sighed giving him yet another displeasing look before she opened a book on her desk.
"The name of the vessel you'll be departing on today, please." She asked
Blueprints took out the telegram and scanning the lines he found what he was looking for, "It's Her Majesties Ship, Moonlight." He said slipping the telegram back into his saddlebag.
The mare looked up from the book, before returning to scanning the pages for the vessel. Her hoof stopped over the ships details. "Hm, I see." She said to herself before she opened one of the draws in her desk bringing out a ticket. "This was left for you." She said handing it to him. "They are on level 42, at docking station 3." she dipped down below her desk to grab some documentation out of another ornately embossed draw. "You just need to fill this out and you can…" She looked up only to realize the stallion was already closing the polished brass gates on the elevator. "Damnable stallion, just wait till I get my hooves on you." She growled around the papers in her mouth.
From his position in the elevator he peered at the dock main clock above the main entrance as he ascended the flaws at a steady speed.
20:03
He gritted his teeth "For Celestia's sake, if I'm late due to that mare I could just…." He left it open ended not knowing what exactly he would do, just that it wouldn't be pleasant.
He slowly rode the elevator up, marveling at the towers design through the bared gates. The sky docks had been built 267 years prior when airship flight had become more affordable and thus enabling the creation of commercial flight. The docking towers where a government funded venture in the hopes to better unify Equestria. The scheme had worked and in a few short years it had become the one of the most used forms of transport, only second to the rail network. The towers had also become a symbol of national and regional pride. Though each tower was based upon the same basic blueprints, each town personalized their own, meaning no two were alike. The one Blueprints was currently traveling up was in a romantic gothic style, utilizing sweeping arches and engravings of famous scenes from Equestrian history. The elevator shuddered as the breaks where enabled, bringing him to a halt on floor 42. Flicking a lever with his hoof the elevators gates parted with a jolt before slowly opening with a hiss of steam. Exiting onto the floor he took stock of his surroundings, seeing that only activity around one of the docking stations he guessed that that was docking station 3. He trotted over hoping that he wasn't too late.
Through docking station three's entrance it opened up to a landing platform from which the Moonlight was tethered. He walked out onto the platform, nodding in greeting to the dockworkers as they passed. Now that he was directly under the airship he was able to clarify that it was a Kestrel class, or at least it was. The airship before him reminded him of the Bridle-down station clock, upgraded and modified so much that it was nearly unrecognizable. It had been its shape that had given it way though; the kestrel class was named for the shape of the main balloon. Its balloon shape was originally designed for the Hawk class, which was developed as a light frigate during the Celestria-Luna war a thousand years prior. Attached to the sides of the balloon where two stubby wings, styled on those of the Pegasus, which housed the two high output propellers. Beneath the main body of the ship was the gondola. Its large size it comparison to the relative size of the balloon was a credit to the efficiency of the design. This was where the Moonlight had been modified heavily at some point in its long service carrier. The original basic, lightly armored steel Gondola had been replaced with a highly ornamental brass and Gondola in the style of the ship class namesake. Each steel feather was inlayed with brass making the moon light dance across its surface as the air ship swayed within it mooring. He walked round the outer edge of the landing platform taking in the intricate exterior of the ship. His eyes took in every detail of the craft, drawing a mental diagram of its design. It wasn't too long till he had gone right around the exterior of the craft and reaching the boarding ramp he spotted three ponies he hadn't noticed before. They were dressed in the official brown leather flight vests of Celestia's Aerial Corps. The lone mare of the group was a small statured Pegasus, he vest accommodating for her wings. She was Black in color, striking a contrast with the worn tan colored leather of her flight vest; with her cutie mark of a sextant drawing his attention. Her fellow crewmembers were near identical stallions. Both were light blue with white manes without the slightest variation between them. Their cutie marks where the only difference between them. One had the image of a cannon while the other had image of a telescope on their flanks.
"Thank Celestia I made it before you left." he stated, breathing heavily.
The ponies just gave each other a confused look before one of them replied. "But we don't leave for another hour."
It was now Blueprints turn to look confused. "But it says here…" he began as he reached in to his saddle bag to bring out the telegram "That you leave at 8pm sharp." He then held it out to show the group.
In response they lent in to get a closer look. It was the small black mare that spotted Blueprints mistake and said, "The ink has run turning the nine into an eight." Turning the telegram round Blueprints quickly realized that in his rush to not miss it, he had only glanced at the timing for the airship's departure and thus missing the mistake. He laughed sheepishly at his stupidity.
The Pegasus then asked "I presume you're the last minute passenger then?" To which Blueprints could only grin nervously.
"I'll take that as a yes then." She chuckled at Blueprints discomfort "Do you have your ticket? It's a bore I know, but its protocol." Taking the ticket out of his saddlebag, Blueprints handed her the ticket. "It'll be good old squeeze getting you in," she then continued glancing over the ticket "but I think we'll manage it."
"Thank you, I really appreciate this."
"Don't thank us; thank your Mommy." She giggles accompanied by the chuckle her crewmate. Blueprints waited for her to finish, he was used to it. It wasn't the first time his overprotective mother had gone this. Once the mare had calmed down again she asked "Who is she anyhow to be able to commandeer a place on my ship?"
Blueprint lowered his head with a sigh, before he murmured something under his breath. Unable to hear the mare took a step forward "Sorry what did you say? You're quieter than a startled filly, speak up."
Blueprint shifted his weight from side to side nervously. Looking back up he asked "Why do you need to know anyhow? Will your curiosity not let it go?"
The mare gave him her best thinking look, raising her right hoof to slowly tap her chin. "Partially that, but also because we have a bet on who it is. I have 20 gold pieces ridding on who your mother is. So tell me or I'll strap you to the outside of the balloon for the entirety of our journey."
"Fine," Blueprints said, the mare biting her lip in anticipation. "She's Bright Flash."
There was a breath silence before the Pegasus broke it with the explanation "I told you! Only someone close to the princes could call in this favor. Who is more likely the prince's military adviser and head of the guard."
Her two crew members just kicked the ground in disappointment. "I thought of Bright flash, why didn't I go for her?" said one of the stallion to himself.
"Should'a, Could'a, Would'a Cannon." The mare teased.
She turned and headed up the boarding ramp. Half way up she turned to look down at her passenger "Well come on then, or are you just going to stare at my ass?" she joked.
In response Blueprints face turned as red as an apple, as his cheeks filled with blood. He pawed the platform jokingly wishing that it would swallow him whole. "I wasn't looking… not that you don't have a…." he stopped himself taking a deep breath "'I'll come up in a minute."
The Mare just smirked before walking into the airship. Blueprints blushing fit came to an end when Stallion with the cannon cutie mark gave him a nudge.
"Don't Mind Storm Chaser, she does that to everypony. I'm Cannon Ball by the way and this," pointing to his double "Is my twin brother Optical." Said the stallion who had just nudged him and was now holding out his hoof.
Blueprints turned toward stallion giving him a cheesy grin trying to hide his nervousness, while shaking the out stretched hoof. He then realized that apart from the mare and the two stallions next to him, he hadn't seen any other crew. So to try and draw the attention away from the mare's teasing he asked. "Is there just the three of you crewing this ship?"
"Yep, say's it means we can take on more cargo, but I'm sure that she just doesn't want to deal with the extra paperwork that comes with a larger crew….Ever since Luna's return the monarchy has been creating new laws, like the Free Marital Act. Personally I couldn't care less about whether somepony wants to marry a pony of the same sex." Said Optical.
Chuckling Blueprints hoped that the stallion had just got confused and finished with the tail end on the conversation the crew had been having when he interrupted them. If not, he worried for the stallion's sanity.
See the concern on Blueprints face he whispered "Don't worry; he says some random things sometimes. It's best just to skip over the his ramblings."
Blueprints chucked lightly. "It's great to meet both of you. I better get after Storm, from what I've seen I better not keep her waiting."
The two brothers nodded with a smile. "We just need to get the rest of our cargo aboard, so we'll see you later." Said Optical.
Blueprints started up the gangplank, his hooves clicking against its wooden boards.
The Tarnished metal work of H.M.S Moonlight reflected the moons glow down upon the fields and homesteads of Equestria. They had made good time since they had left the docking spire at Bridle-down, covering nearly half the distance to Canterlot. Upon her deck Blueprints lent against the railing watching the ground slowly move below him. He couldn’t sleep; his mind was still going over the exhibition from earlier that day. He looked up at the balloon suspended above his head as the wind whistled through the heavy cables tying it to the ship. Blueprints closed his eye’s enjoying the feeling a great sense of calm come over him. He belonged in the sky; he had always felt it in his heart. He sighed; it was times like this when he hated his birth defect. He laughed, before resting his head against the railing. Being the only wingless pony in a Pegasus family had been… ‘Interesting’. He face became crest fallen, to be a Pegasus without wings, what a joke. By anypony assumption he should be an earth pony, no magic and no power of flight. He of course was the one in a million exception to the rule. Blueprints had gained all the Pegasus powers, control of the weather and the ability to walk on clouds but no wings. Thinking back it had been the very fact that he couldn’t fly that led to him finding his talent and thus gaining his cutie mark.
Blueprints stared out at the moon as he remembered the events that seemed like a life time ago.
Flash Back
Bright Flash escorted her eldest child through the bright, cloud buildings of Cloudsdale. The sun was still low in the sky, only just peaking over town’s skyline. Though she had pressing duties, she had promised her son that she would escort him to his first day of school. Though this was meant to be a happy day, Bright found herself worrying for her son. She looked down at the light grey colt walking beside her, his excitement coming off him in waves. Her Blueprints ‘uniqueness’ was the cause of her worry, as usual. This particular day in her son’s life had been worrying her since she’d held him in her arms for the first time. Apart from the school curriculum focusing on flight for the first two years, it was weather the other foals would accept him. She knew only time would tell if her fears were founded.
The school building stood out amongst the repetitive cloud homes of Cloudsdale. It was built in the same style as the rest of Cloudsdale, classical with a noticeable gothic twist. In front of its grand pillared entrance was a large open square, in the centre of which stood statue of Commander Hurricane in mid-flight. Under his shadow was a large group of families mingling and talking amongst themselves. This was the sight that met Bright Flash and Blueprints upon entering the square.
Blueprints only ever mingled with the foals of close family friends, due to his mothers worrying. This was why he was currently standing in the shadows at the edge of the square. His mother had taken a few steps in to the square before she noticed that Blueprints was no longer beside her. She turned and trotted back to her foal.
“What’s the matter sweet heart?” She asked, bending down to Blueprints’ eye level.
“I’m just nervous, is all.” He replied his eye’s falling to the ground.
Bright Flash smiled, before giving his cheek a gentle nuzzle, she knew exactly how to remove his self-doubt. She quirked an eye brow before saying, “Don’t tell me that my little soldier is scared?”
This had the desired effect on the young colt he quickly took a defiant stance before stating, “Never!”
Bright gave a small giggle. She had brought up Blueprints and her other foal in the Barracks of the celestial Palace. It wasn’t the best environment to bring up a child, but it was the best Bright Flash could manage. The Royal guard had become a surrogate family for the young colt; he saw them as older siblings and role models. It wasn’t long till he started playing ‘Guard’ along side them. She suppressed a giggle of the memory of her son marching up and down the corridors of the palace and fighting off imaginary enemies.
Returning to the present Bright rustled her foals mane with her hoof. “Then you shall hold your head high and face this challenge head on.”
Blueprints gave her a large grin, before stepping out into the warm rays of the morning sun. Bright trotted besides him smiling at her son’s antics.
As they entered the gathered crowd of new students and the respective parents, Blueprints felt their eye’s boring into him. He chose to ignore them. His mom had told him that morning that this was probably going to happen, due to how ‘unique’ he was. She had told him that he was the first none winged pony to ever attend the academy. He looked up at his mom who was currently chatting to a group of parents. He knew the conversation was about him, but he didn’t care. He wondered through the crowd to the statue he’d seen upon entering the square.
Looked up at the statue that towered above him, his eyes bright with wonder. It was at this point when something shoved him hard in the back, making him fall head over hooves into the solid base of the statue. Blueprints picked himself up off the ground to the Corus of chuckling behind him. He turned to face his attackers, even though he knew who it was going to be. Standing amongst his cronies a Blue coloured Colt by the name of Swift Bolt.
They had first crossed paths at the local park over a year previously. It was the first time anypony had mocked him for being different. Since that day, though confrontations were rare, Swift had taken every opportunity make himself look big in front of ‘friends’. Blueprints should have known better than to think that upon entering the academy things would be different.
“Did the Earth pony hurt himself?” chuckled swift accompanied by his cronies.
“I’m not an earth pony, otherwise I wouldn’t be joining the academy.” Blueprints angrily replied with a scowl.
“Really? I guess then that other than us,” Swift gestured to himself and his followers “The intake this year is so bad that they need a flightless feather brain to make them look good.”
Blueprints gritted his teeth, at the other colts statement, he stared defiantly at the other colt. Inside though Blueprints felt his resolve crack and worst of all he knew that Swift knew that his comment had hit a nerve. But before the other colt could press the issue a pony climbed to a podium in front of the academy entrance.
Blueprints used the distraction to slip into the crowd and back to his mom.
-Time Skip (6 months)-
Blueprints sat on a small cloud overlooking the academy training arena, longingly watching the other foals learn the basic skills for flight. The faculty didn’t know what to do with him and neither did he. A case such as blueprints had never been considered as a possibility. As such they didn’t know what to do with him during flight training. So he was mostly left to his own devices. He turned so that he was staring up at the blue sky as an Airship lazily glided overhead. Watching the lumbering passenger airship Blueprints wondered, for the first time how such a machine worked.
That was when the small cloud he’d been lying on had suddenly disappeared, sending the young colt into free fall. Luckily for Blue he was able to correct his fall with the aid of a cloudbank. Even so he landed in a heap on the main cloud. He looked up to see the Swift and a small group of other ponies hovering above him, laughing.
“Haven’t I told you time and time again, that only Pegasus are aloud this high.” Swift gestured to the level where Blue’s cloud had been only moments before.
“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” Blue demanded while trying to get up.
Swift stopped laughing and swooped down, landing in front of his target. “Because, as I keep telling you, you don’t belong here. You don’t even belong on the ground.” He smirked before roughly shoving Blue back to the cloud, “You should just stop trying to fit in and leave.”
Blue stayed on the cloud this time he knew that it was a fight he couldn’t win. He didn’t even have any friends to come to his aid; Swift had made sure to scare any potential friends away. So he just sat the holding his bruised arm, trying to not to give into the feelings of hopelessness trying to take over his heart. Though he tried so hard to prevent Swift seeing any chink in his armour, a solitary tear ran down Blue’s face.
“Aw, look.” Swift pointed “The filly’s crying, maybe we should…” he didn’t get any further, as a pair of hooves connected with his chest. Swift sailed through the air before he was court by his members of his group.
Blue looked up in shock at the pony that was currently standing between him and Swift’s gang.
“What’s the big idea?” Shouted Swift, brushing off his friends who were trying to help him regain his footing. He glared at the newcomer, but his cocky smirk returned to his face upon seeing whom it was. “So, the cross eyed freak comes to the aid of the wingless idiot.”
The Grey filly just glared at swift not moving an inch. “Back off.”
He laughed and was soon joined by the rest of his group. “Or what? Your just as much of a freak as he is. We’ve seen you around, you can barely walk in a straight line let alone fly in a straight line.”
Again the filly just stood there unmoving, her good eye never leaving Swifts.
Swift chuckled before turning and started to walk off stating, “I won’t waste any more time on those fools.”
However his was stopped by an angry shout from behind him. He looked over his shoulder at the two ponies, seeing that the idiot grey filly was propping up Blue.
Blue trotted forward, limping slightly on his bruised leg. “I am so sick of you Swift.” He shakily raised a hoof till he was pointing it at the Blue colt, “I challenge you.”
There was a dead silence. Swift recovered first breaking into hysterical laughter, “You must be kidding me. You, challenge me? In what?”
Blue stoically stood his ground waiting for the laughter to die down. “I Challenge you to a race round the academy circuit.”
This was met by a louder chorus of laughter from Swifts group. “I think you might have knocked your head when you fell out of your cloud. You can’t even fly!”
“I’ll make do.” Blue said, “But if I win you leave me alone indefinably.”
“And what if I win?”
“You can continue to stoke your ego at my expense.”
Swift briefly scowled but he soon started chuckling, “All right then. As we both know you’re going to lose anyhow, you can choose the time and date of your humiliation.”
“Tomorrow, during lunch break.”
“Fine. I look forward to it” Swift continued to chuckle as he walked off accompanied by his cronies.
Blue watched them leave, until his injured leg gave out from under him. He fell side ways, but was caught by grey mare from before.
“Thank you.” Blue sighed looking up at the filly. She was definitely older than him, probably by a year or so.
“You’re welcome; you looked like you need some help.” She said as Blue steadied himself with her aid.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t even know your name.” He smiled.
“It’s Ditzy, Ditzy Doo.”
“I’m Blueprints. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Blue tentatively put some weight on his injured leg, feeling that he could support himself he stopped leaning on Ditzy.
Ditzy looked over at the Swift group in the distance and asked “How are you going to do it Blue?”
“Do what?”
“Fly?”
“I’ve been preparing to challenge him for weeks, I’ve got a plan.” He nervously pawed the cloud with his hoof before asking, “Would you like to see it?”
Ditzy smiled, he slightly melancholy demeanor instantly replaced with excitement. She nodded.
It was Blue’s turn to let a smile grace his lips, followed by a light chuckle. “After class today I’ll meet you by the statue of commander hurricane in front of the academy.”
Again she nodded, “I look forward to it.” She turned and quickly took off into the air, calling back, “I need to get back to class before they miss me.”
Blue watched her leave with a smile. He had a friend and because of this felt his resolve strengthen. He’d met someone like him, someone who was different due to no fault of their own.
-Time Skip (The following day)-
Blueprints stood nervously near the starting posts of the academy flight circuit. He was trying to disguise his nerves as he warmed up. He shifted the pack on his back, adjusting the canvas straps that secured it to his back. All his plans hinged on his calculations being right. If not he had a good couple of minutes to figure out why as he plummeted to the ground. He checked his equipment again, before tapping the goggles on his forehead to check that they were still there.
He looked around for Ditzy as he started to pace back and forth, his nervousness getting the better of him. He remembered how ecstatic she’d been the previous afternoon when he’d shown her his invention. Her confidence in him gave him confidence in himself. Apart from that, it was great to have a friend who was open willing to be seen with him.
He knew it what made them individually different was what was drawing them together. Granted her eye’s was definitely more noticeable then him being wingless. At least when he went down to the ground he fit in somewhat, Ditzy stood out no matter where she was.
Blue’s personal opinion about her right eye was that of a mild curiosity. But he had to admit that he found her cute above all.
His face sat turned a deep shade of red as he realised what he was think of. He shook his head violently to remove the thought.
That was the moment when Swift made his appearance, accompanied as always by his entourage. He walked straight through the crowded students to where Blue was pacing.
“Well looks like you’re not as weak willed as I took you for.” He said with his cocky smirk.
Blue just ignored him as he scanned the crowd for Ditzy. However Swift didn’t notice and continued to try and make himself look ‘big’ in front of his followers.
“So what that ugly thing on your back?” He pointed out the pack on Blue’s back to his group; “I hope it’s a parachute, Wingless, because you wont even get of this cloud.”
Blue still wasn’t listening as he spotted Ditzy resting on a cloud with the rest of the older students who had taken an interest in the race. She smiled giving him a wave. He returned her smile before giving her a nod in acknowledgment “Hey I’m talking to you, you inbred freak.” Swift snorted seeing that he was being ignored.
Blue turned, a smile firmly placed on his lips. “I hope you enjoy your last couple of minutes, because after I beat you, you wont have another chance to.”
His statement ruffled Swifts feathers and he knew it. Swift made to make a retort but was interrupted by the academy’s clock tower as it signalled half past the hour.
“We better start, unless that is you want to pull out?” Blue stated, feeling more confident than ever before.
“Sorry, but I’m not going to miss an opportunity to put you in your place once and for all.” Swift cockily snorted back, as he made his way to the starting line.
Blue followed readying himself for what was to come. On the sidelines, shouts of encouragement for Swift echoed round the clouds. Support for Blue was rare, but he knew that this was down to Swifts cronies spread amongst the crowd.
He saw that on of the older student had taken the role of marshal for the race. He stood with the chequered flag in one hoof looking at the two competitors. Once he saw that both of them were ready he raised the flag.
“I want a clean race, if I see any cheating you forfeit the race. You are to do a single lap of the course, flying through all the cloud rings. Do I make my self clear?” The older colt asked.
He question was met by nods.
“Right then,” The Colt paused before shouting, “GO!”
Both Swift and Blue bolted off the line galloping towards the edge of the cloud. The cheers echoed round the Academy arena as they neared the edge.
Swift took flight, his young wings straining to get him up to top speed. Blue on the other hand, Blue kept galloping as fast as he could towards the cloud edge. There were shouts of confusion starting to be mixed in with the shouts of encouragement.
Blue leaped into the air as he reached the cloud edge. He hung in mid air for a short time until he inevitably started to fall. There were cries of confusion and shock as the young colt disappeared out of sight of the crowd.
Ditzy lent forward on her cloud trying to listen out for a tell-tail sound that Blue had described to her the precious night. She waited with baited breath not wanting to think of the consequences of what would happen if Blue’s contraption didn’t work.
There! Just over the sound of sound of the crowd she heard it. In response she shouted louder then she thought possible giving blue her pull support.
Blue was incredibly excited, though if you looked at him wouldn’t notice due to the face only showing a look of extreme concentration. He’d done it. After weeks of planning and building, it had worked. He risked a gaze back at the two canvas and brass wings that currently bore him aloft.
He circled skywards upon the up draft of a thermal trying to gain the height he needed. After a short moment he regained the cover of the clouds and appeared above the edge of the main cloud that held the academy. He was greeted by a hush silence as the student took in a sight that, if it weren’t in front of them, they would dismiss as part of their imagination.
It started with just the senior students at first, but soon the entire crowd went crazy. Their shouts and cheers, Blue bet could have been heard throughout Cloudsdale.
Blue gained altitude as fast as the thermal would let him. His wings however had a fundamental flaw in that they weren’t powered. So everything hinged on him gaining the necessary height so that he could gain the speed he needed in dive.
Swift however was currently leisurely flying from ring to ring, his cocky smirk pasturing his face. He had presumed that Blueprints was indeed wearing a parachute, and was currently trying to hope from cloud to cloud.
Blue circled high above the course taking in his surroundings. Swift had reached the half way mark, but this wasn’t a problem for Blue. Blue made some minor adjustments before pulling his goggles over his eyes. He gritted his teeth before saying out loud.
“Now for the dangerous bit.” Again he hung in the air for the briefest of moments before going into free fall.
Swift was insight of the finish line now and he could see members of his entourage waving at him. He took this as encouragement and decided to show off by doing a barrel role. However, once he came levelled out again he saw the looks of worry etched on his follows faces as they looked past him.
Curiously Swift looked behind him. As he did, some thing rocketed past him and for the briefest of moments Swifts eyes met those of Blue’s. Swift went into shock unable to comprehend the event unfolding in front of him.
Blue rocketed past Swift making minor adjustment to his flight by shifting his body weight. He had to finish the race as soon as possible, the longer her took the more likely the race wasn’t going to end well. Though the wings design were near perfect the materials were far from it. Blue could already feel the components of the wings starting to come apart.
He new he was coming in to fast but it was to late to make any adjustments. He took a deep breath and barely 10 meters away from the Finish line he started his emergency break procedure. But the inevitable happened; Blue’s wings tore themselves apart with the sudden force of breaking.
Though his wings had slowed him down, there was still enough kinetic energy to send him bouncing across the line.
Blue landed in a heap thanking Celestia, under his breath that he’d landed on clouds and not the ground. He felt a shadow fall across his body, which was soon replaced by two arms gathering him into a hug. He looked up at his only friend smiling like a complete idiot.
“Did you see that? It worked… apart from the landing. But given time and better materials I could over come that problem in less than a month.
Ditzy let out giggle at Blues antics. Before releasing him from her hug to allow him to get up. However his relative freedom was short lived as Ditzy excitedly grabbed him in another hug.
“YOU GOT IT!” she simply stated not giving any suggestion to exactly what he’d got.
“What have I got?” Blue asked craning his neck within Ditzy’s grasp trying to see what she was talking about. Finally, he spotted what she was talking about. He returned Ditzy’s hug in his excitement, nearly hopping up and down.
His was the first Foal in his year group to gain his cutie mark. His talent had enabled him to confront his problems head on and in return he’d gained the support of his classmates and gained a very close friend.
End Flashback
With a sighed in contentment he got off the railing, turning round he saw the Pegasus from earlier coming towards him.
“What are you doing out here, I thought you’d be asleep?” She asked as she neared him.
Blueprints shrugged “I seem to have found the Bridle-down Exhibition way to stimulating to be compatible with good night’s rest.” He chucked “But what about you, what are you doing up?”
“I’m on first watch tonight, at least one of us needs to make sure that we’re still on the right course.” The stallion nodded in understanding. Storm decided to change the subject and asked “So I presume that you’re an engineer then.”
“You read me like an open book don’t you?” Blueprints chuckled nervously.
“Well,” She continued, smiling to herself “I wouldn’t say that. But a pony that goes to an exhibition, displaying all the latest inventions from around Equestria, and also has a cutie mark of blueprints.” She left her sentence open ended looking at the stallion with a grin.
“I guess my occupation is quite obvious when you put it like that.” Blueprints chuckled. “So, why were you in Bridle-down? It can’t be just because of me.”
“We are transporting the exhibits belong to Engineers who are currently working directly for Princes Celestia. I presume you’ve heard of them, the team headed by Master Engineer Blue Aether?”
Blueprints felt A bit giddy at Storms statement. Of course he’d heard of Blue Aether, everyone had. He had produced some of the most technologically advanced inventions Equestria had ever seen. He was the Engineer every engineer dreamed to be like. Of course this had meant that his display had been the centre peace of the Bridle-down Exhibition. Once he had collected his emotions about his idol, he nodded his head. “His example is what every engineer hopes to live up to.”
Blueprints lent against the wooden railing to steady himself, his face filled with a child like excitement.
Storm giggled at the stallion’s antics as she walked over, her hooves barley making a sound against the wooden deck. She lent against railing facing Blueprints. “Did you see what he unveiled then?” she asked.
“Actually no I was so busy I didn’t have the time.” Blue sheepishly replied.
“Would you like to?” Storm asked.
Blue was slightly taken aback by her question. He was however able to give the mare a nod.
