A Seed in the Wind

        The ponies of Manehattan gathered around the airfield in awe. It had finally been unveiled, and everypony agreed that it was magnificent. It stood as a testament to equine engineering. It was the pinnacle of technology in Equestria, and represented the strong spirit of the country.

It was the HMS Harmonious, the largest airship ever made. Conceived, designed, and built in Manehattan, it was the pride and joy of the city. Three long years of sweat and hard work had lead up to that moment.

Well, to be more precise, they had lead up to the moment that would take place the next day.

For now, the balloon of the massive aircraft was being inflated. While smaller airships could be inflated by a single unicorn, the Harmonious required a rotating ten-pony squad working over the course of approximately twenty three hours to fill it. The magical ponies were all highly trained in transformation spells, but the sheer amount of helium needed to lift the dirigible was impossible to create for any one pony. There were even rumors that Princess Celestia herself could not do it alone.

Of course, watching a balloon inflate was hardly high entertainment. Throughout the day, ponies came and went as the majestic purple blimp was filled, slowly floating higher into the air. As the balloon rose, the gondola became exposed. While similar in design to the few ships of the sea that Equestria’s Navy claimed, the appearance of the Harmonious was far more grand. Built with gleaming hardwood and designed with perhaps more care for aesthetics than functionality, the gondola of the incredible airship was a majestic sight to behold. Quite a few wished that they could be onboard for the ship’s maiden voyage, but only the most privileged of ponies could afford to ride on the first flight.

The massive airship was scheduled to fly to Canterlot, where she would receive Princess Celestia herself, and then return to Manehattan for the Summer Sun Celebration. Such an incredible event was one that generated almost as much excitement as the completion of the vessel herself.

But in the city of Manehattan, there were two denizens that cared little about the amazing events soon to take place. Two seemingly unrelated citizens who had no idea of what fate would soon befall them.

One was still young, still just a school-filly. But like many others before her and to come, she faced a problem. Despite all of the wishing she did late at night, as she looked up to Luna’s starry sky, she was still missing an integral part of any pony’s life. That filly, with her brown fur and red mane, did not care about one of the biggest events in Manehattan history. No, instead she wanted nothing more than the solution to her troubles. Her name was Babs Seed, and above all else she wanted her cutie mark.

It didn’t have to be impressive, or even entirely unique, it only had to be hers. She didn’t know how much longer she could take the bullying she received due to her blank flank. On that day, she sat on the roof of her apartment building, a habit she had taken to over the years. She looked over the short wall of the edge and watched the ponies of the city as they walked by, and wondered how each of them had found their cutie marks. But as the sun began to set, a new shape caught her eye. She looked up and into the distance, spotting the round crest of the Harmonius as it inflated.

“I wonder what it would be like to be on dat ship,” she said to no one, “Ta jus’ fly away.” The green eyed filly shook her head at that. She couldn’t just leave like that, and she knew it. Her mother and father would miss her, she held little doubt of that. Life may not have been easy on the brown filly, but she could always count on her parents to be there for her when she came home.

“But still,” she thought, “It would be nice ta jus’ get away fo’ awhile.” She could just imagine how great it would be to be away from the taunts and jeers of her peers. To maybe find a place where it didn’t matter that her flank was bare. To find friends who didn’t care about the mark of her talents, but instead for the pony herself.

Turning and noticing the position of the sun, Babs realized that it would be time for dinner soon. She shook her head to clear the daydream that had begun to form. Standing, the filly walked away from the edge of the roof at a sedate pace, still hoping that somehow a solution to her problems would appear. Or, at the very least, that she could wake up without having to worry about the bullies who tormented her.

Across Manehattan, on the opposite side of the magnificent aircraft, a griffin was having similar thoughts. A rare sight in the mainly pony-filled metropolis, she received more than one second glance just walking down the street. She returned each one with an aggressive glare, daring each and every pony to challenge her. None did, though. Only a fool of a pony would take on an angry griffin.

But on the inside, the lion-eagle hybrid wanted to just break down. It was as if the last year of her life had been an extended nightmare. First, she had lost her oldest and best friend to some stupid pink pony. Even though she would never admit it, the griffin regretted the way she behaved. Perhaps if she hadn’t acted so hostile, she would still have her friend. Many times she considered going back to Ponyville and apologizing to her friend, but she never did.

Gilda the griffin was too prideful to apologize. She refused to go back to that tiny town and beg forgiveness from the pegasus she used to call friend.

That had only been the beginning of her troubles, however. When she returned home to Cloudsdale, she was still overwhelmed by the loss. Gilda lashed out at anyone who came to close to her, which led to more than one fight. Eventually, the repeated conflicts culminated in the loss of her job and not long after her home. With nothing left to her name, the defeated griffin had fled to Manehattan, the city often lauded as the cradle of opportunity in Equestria.

“Cradle of opportunity my tail. I hardly found work at all,” she grumbled, receiving an odd look from a pony who had just passed her. “What are you looking at?” she challenged, flaring her wings a bit, just to make sure the lame pony knew who was the boss.

It had the intended effect, and the yellow stallion walked away with his head down. Gilda shook her head, and took to the skies. She’d had enough of walking amongst the ponies. Besides, she had to get home soon to keep her creep of a neighbor from breaking into her dingy apartment.

The wind blew through her purple trimmed feathers as she flew. To be honest, the abrasive griffin more than once thought that living on the street would be better than living in the dump she was forced to call a home. But she knew that it was better to have a roof full of holes, than no roof at all.

She slid open the window facing the street, and climbed into her home. It was better to enter by that method, anyways. If she actually walked through the building and up the stairs, she would only be faced with the reality of her living situation. Not that her tiny home didn’t do that well enough already. The only things she had were a ratty bed and an old radio she had rescued from a dumpster. She laid down on the bed that sat next to the same window she had just come through. A soft summer breeze ruffled her fur and feathers, and she looked outside and watched the sun set. A shadow came into her vision as she stared, it was round and very slowly rising.

At the same time that a certain bobtailed filly had seen it, Gilda the griffin spotted the Harmonious as it was being inflated.

“I bet I could hop on that and no one would even notice I was gone,” she sighed, depression setting in.

But she too had her reasons to stay. To be more precise, it was only one reason. She had finally found work in a warehouse, moving crates that were too high for most ponies to reach. It was hard work that didn’t pay well, but it was all she had. She refused to give it up, there was no way she would let herself lose everything again.

The orange eyed griffin rolled over and away from the window, and sighed. She needed her sleep, anyways. Her work demanded she wake up early.

“Maybe I’ll get to see the lame thing take off,” she muttered, her mind lingering on the airship.

And so it was that the stage was set for the filly and the griffin. Neither had ever met the other, yet soon enough both of their worlds would be turned upside down by the same event.

The next day Babs Seed would wake up and prepare for school, just as she did every day.

The next day Gilda would wake up and leave for her menial job lifting boxes for a large company, just as her routine had become.

The next day, the HMS Harmonious would take off on its maiden voyage, bound for Canterlot and her majesty Princess Celestia.

And the next day, a team of weather ponies would misread their charts, knocking over the first domino in a chain of events that would lead to an adventure that would change the lives of a pony and a griffin forever.