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.
“The sunset sure is beautiful this morning, eh captain?” a pegasus looked to a unicorn dressed in an impressive uniform.
“If you have time to admire the sunset, you have time to work. So get to it, you can tell that to Princess Celestia herself later, but only if we get this boat off the ground!” the captain’s tone was firm and commanding.
“Yes sir!” the pegasus saluted his superior, “I’m on it!”
The unicorn watched as his subordinate trotted off to his tasks. He looked out over the deck of the Harmonious, and took in a deep breath.
“Today’s the day,” he said to himself, “Today is the most important day in many ponies lives.”
The captain of the HMS Harmonious had no idea just how true his words would be.
-o0o-
”Wow Babs, dat looks great!”
“Yeah! I wish mine looked like dat!”
“It’s so amazing!”
Babs blushed and waved a hoof, saying “Oh, it’s nothin’.”
“It’s not nothin’! That’s da most amazin’ cutie mark I’ve evah seen!”
The compliments continued, and Babs basked in the admiration. She couldn’t believe it, her cutie mark had finally appeared!
“Miss Seed!”
Babs seemed to be having trouble remembering exactly what her cutie mark was, though.
“Miss Seed!”
Shaking her head at her own forgetfulness, Babs turned to look at her no longer blank flank.
“Miss Seed, wake up!”
One of Babs’ ears perked up, she could have sworn someone has said her name. It didn’t matter, though, she had a cutie mark to admire.
“Miss Seed!”
Babs’ head snapped up just in time for an eraser to hit her directly between the eyes.
She did her best to hide in plain sight as the rest of the class laughed at her.
“Settle down, class.” That was her teacher, a cranky old unicorn named Bright Dawn. Most everypony who knew her agreed that such a cheery name was a horrible match for the bitter pony it was attached to. But no one dared to let Dawn hear it. It didn’t matter whether they were a student or a parent, anyone who displeased the elderly mare would receive an earful. Or, as the case sometimes was, an eraser to the face.
“Now, Miss Seed,” the elderly teacher said, the tight bun her mane was drawn into bobbing as she spoke, “If you could answer the question.”
Babs’ pupils shrunk dramatically. She had been caught sleeping in class, again. And this time, she had missed out on a question that her teacher still expected her to answer.
Her eyes darted around frantically, hoping to find some sort of answer. They settled on a bright blue colt in the front row, who was urgently mouthing the word “Five,” to her.
“Uhh,” Babs’ voice was full of uncertainty, “Five?”
“The name of the first griffin king was ‘five?’” Mrs. Dawn asked Babs’, giving her a highly disapproving look.
Babs’ ear flattened against her head as the class erupted into laughter. She threw a glare to the colt in the front row, who responded by showing his tongue to her.
The teacher turned to another student for the answer, leaving Babs to her thoughts. She tried to slip back into the dream she had been awoken from, but it was of no use. Even if she could go back to sleep, the fantasy would not come back to her.
Babs sighed and rested her head on her crossed forearms. She supposed she should be listening to her teacher, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. When would she need to know anything about the gryphon kingdoms, anyways? It’s not like she would ever go there.
Her thoughts turned further away from school. Turning her head, Babs looked out the window of her small school room. The familiar brick landscape of Manehattan greeted her, but in the distance was something that caught her attention. Just barely over the buildings Babs could see the top of the Harmonius.
Once again she wondered what it would be like to be onboard. “I wondah what it’s like in Canterlot,” she mused, “If the ponies there are any nicer.” Babs had heard that the royal city was mainly populated by unicorns, but her mind could not stop wondering what it would be like to escape.
“Miss Seed!” came the voice of her teacher once more, “Pay attention!”
Babs snapped up, looking straight to the front of the room. She did her best to ignore the snickers of her classmates, focusing instead on her teacher.
“Good,” Mrs. Dawn said, “Now that everypony is paying attention, we can continue.”
The red maned filly sighed. It was going to be another long day in school.
-o0o-
With a heave, Gilda set the last box down on the highest level of the shelf. She turned in mid-air and looked out on the warehouse. It was rather bleak, all cement and metal, and nearly filled with wooden boxes. The griffin wiped a hand across her forehead, and slowly descended to the cold floor.
“Gilda!” a gravelly voice shouted. Gilda turned her head and saw her boss coming around a corner. He was a rather portly earth pony, with a moustache that looked more like a large caterpillar and a cigar ever present in his mouth.“They need ya over in the northwest corner, get to it!”
“Yes, boss,” Gilda growled, stalking past the overweight stallion. Thoughts went through her mind that would certainly get her fired as she walked through the towering shelves. The temperamental griffin hated being restricted to the ground when crossing the warehouse floor. But the stacks were too high for her to fly over, and it would be pointless to fly the same distance she would walk.
“Look out!” Gilda heard a pony shout. She snapped out of her thoughts and quickly ascended, narrowly dodging a pair of stallions who had thought it a good idea to try racing while hauling large carts full of cargo.
“Dweebs,” she grumbled, flying forward. There was one advantage to flying over walking, even when the distance would be the same. There were no pegasi working in the warehouse, only earth ponies and a couple of unicorns for the more delicate jobs. So, when she took to the air, she only had to land again if her work took her to the floor.
Soon enough, Gilda was at the northwest corner. “Where do you need me,” she asked, just as she landed.
A large stallion with a deep voice said to her “Take this cart, you’re fillin’ in for Apple Seed for tha rest o’ tha day.”
Gilda paused for a moment, breathing deeply. She was about ready to explode on the black colt who she had just received orders from. Apple Seed was always leaving work early for one reason or another, often involving his daughter somehow, and she always wound up filling in for him. It frustrated her to no end, especially since despite being stronger than unicorns and pegasi, griffins were not often quite as strong as earth ponies. Only the largest griffins reached that level of strength, while the rest relied on their natural advantages of wings, claws, and a sharp beak to hold their superiority of ponies. But, of course, her employers seemed ignorant of this fact, and often saddled her with jobs that left her sore and exhausted at the end of the day. Jobs that she wished she could just skip out on.
For a moment, Gilda’s mind flashed back to her time in Junior Flight Camp with Rainbow Dash. She recalled their many lazy days skipping class to do whatever they wanted. Sure, they got in trouble, but the memories they made together always brought a smile to Gilda’s face. At least, they did before the events in Ponyville. The griffin felt her anger at Apple Seed and her employers leaving her, replaced by remorse and frustration with herself.
“Got it, boss.” Gilda sounded dejected as she settled into the harness of the cart. As good as it would feel to let all of her anger out on her boss, she didn’t want to lose her job. She’d already lost everything else, that job was her last chance at getting her life back on track.
-o0o-
A brown paper sack plopped down onto a wooden picnic table, a small brown filly doing the same on the seat hardly a second later. Babs reached into the bag, and pulled out her simple lunch.
“Daisy sandwich with sesame seeds! Yes!” she cheered, her voice lost in the din of children at play. Babs was quick to bite into her favorite food, a happy grin on her face appearing as soon as the sandwich hit her tongue.
As she ate, however, she failed to notice the sound of hoofbeats coming from behind her. By the time she noticed the shadows of a gang colts bearing down on her, it was too late.
“Hey Babsy, whatcha got there?” A sickly green colt asked, sitting down beside her as if he were a friend.
Babs did her best to ignore the snickers that came from the rest of the gang of colts. “Just my lunch,” she replied, hoping she could just be left alone.
It happened so suddenly then, that Babs almost didn’t realize what happened. One second, she was going to take a bite of her sandwich, doing what she could to be as non-confrontational as possible. She didn’t want any trouble, she just wanted to eat in peace. But, it would seem, life had other plans for her. It was just as she was about to bite that a green hoof came into her field of vision, flying fast towards her.
One second, she had just been a filly eating her lunch in peace. The next, she was on the ground, tears in her eyes.
Babs looked into the eyes of her assailant, and for a moment he looked surprised. The two stared at each other, not knowing what to do in that split second. Perhaps, Babs hoped, he had not meant to hit her? Maybe he would apologize, and be too afraid to tease her anymore, for fear of the teachers? But then, a sneer spread across the horribly green colt’s features, and any hopes Babs held fell lower than they were before. She knew then that a door had just opened in her tormentor’s mind, and life would no longer be the same for her.
“Hah! Look at that, the blank flank can’t even sit right!” the gang of bullies all began to laugh then, as Babs began to cry into the soil. She took a peek up, hoping to see the colts leaving. They were all still there though, gathered around the picnic table on the grass, bright sunlight illuminating the whole scene with not a cloud in the sky. It all seemed so horribly out of place. A group of friends laughing on a warm and bright day. Why, there’d be nothing wrong if not for the little orange filly crying on the ground beside them.
“Greengrass!” an elderly and distinctly female voice shouted from across the schoolyard.
The heads of all four of the colts snapped towards the voice, and saw Bright Dawn trotting towards them. Their laughter cut off as the elderly dark orange mare stopped in front of them.
“What is going on here?” she asked, motioning to Babs, who was still silently sobbing on the ground.
“Oh, well, we were just walking by! We don’t know why Babs is crying, but we were about to go get you, honest!” Greengrass lied, the rest of his friends nodding as he lied.
“Why were you laughing, then?” Mrs. Dawn asked, her features as pinched as usual.
“Oh, I had just told a really funny joke befo’ we saw Babs, that’s all.” Greengrass’s lies continued. His teacher took one last suspicious look at him, before nodding and walking over to Babs.
“Now, Ms. Seed, if you could come with me and tell me why you are crying, please?” Bright Dawn’s voice was horribly formal for such an emotional situation.
Shakily standing, Babs walked away with her teacher, head hung low. Her whole body felt numb as she walked into the school house.
-o0o-
A loud bell rang throughout the warehouse, signalling the end of another workday for Gilda. She let out a deep sigh and released herself from the harness of the cart she had been hauling. Standing on her hind legs, she bent backward, popping the joints in her spine.
Gilda quickly punched her time card and made her way towards the exit. She was in sight of the doors when she heard a rumbly voice call out to her.
“Yo, griffin girl, I need ta speak wit’ you.” Gilda turned and saw her boss closing the door to his office. She groaned and walked towards the small room.
The griffin turned the brass knob on the door, glancing at her boss’s name on the mottled glass. “Strong Hoof my tail,” she muttered, “The lazy jerk hasn’t lifted on hoof since I got here.” Gilda walked in, and sat down when her boss motioned to a chair in front of his cheap looking desk.
“Now, Gilda,” Strong Hoof said, a dark brown hoof putting another cigar into his mouth, “I’ve been hearin’ some things from tha otha workers.”
That did not sound good, not at all. Gilda started to worry, she couldn’t think of any way that sentence could turn out good for her. “Y-yeah?” she stuttered, “What have they been saying?”
“Well,” Hoof said, “I’ve had some complaints about ya, and how ya treat tha otha workers.” He took a deep drag of his cigar, and blew the smoke out in Gilda’s face, totally uncaring of her health.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Gilda managed to say between coughs.
“I’ve had several ponies come in sayin’ that you threatened them just fer lookin’ at ya funny,” Hoof pulled up a list from a large pile of papers on his desk, “And just last week I had a unicorn come in sayin’ you ‘threatened ta tear his horn off and feed it ta him on a silvah plattah.’”
Gilda swallowed loudly, and said “In my defense, he had almost dropped a crate on my head a second before that.”
Strong Hoof gave her a deadpan stare, and continued to read off the list. Gilda couldn’t believe there were so many complaints against her. As she listened, though, she realized that most of the things on the list she hadn’t even done. She felt her anger rising, her co-workers had lied to get her fired!
“All in all, that adds up ta a hard choice for me ta make,” Strong hoof finished, tapping his cigar on a nearby ashtray, “But I had ta make it. So Gilda, you’re fired. Don’t botha comin’ inta work tomorra, either. Your last paycheck is in tha mail.”
Gilda’s jaw dropped. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore, her whole world was crashing down around her. Something deep inside of her cried out, and whether it was in anger or sadness, the griffin could not tell. All she knew was that she knew nothing. More than anything, she thought she had finally found something to keep her afloat. It paid horribly, and the work was harsh, but it was all she had. Now, she had nothing. Her apartment and the meager possessions therein would soon be taken from her, and she’d be on the streets.
For a moment, the idea occurred to her to beg. To get down on the floor and grovel, just to keep her job. But she couldn’t swallow her pride to do so. Her dignity was all she had left, not even the fire to be angry was inside her anymore.
Gilda simply nodded, closed her jaw, stood, and walked away. Her head hung low, and she paid no attention to her path. More than a few ponies jumped out of her way with angry words, but she did not notice them. Even on the cold streets of Manehattan, she felt nothing.
-o0o-
Babs sat in her room, staring out her open window. Her father had left work early to get her out of school, after her teacher decided she would only be a disruption in class. He hadn’t been too happy about that. He tried to hide it, but Babs could tell.
Off in the distance she could still see the Harmonius, finally fully inflated. The young filly wondered what it must be like for those who would be onboard the ship. Just as she had the night before, she wondered what it would be like to fly away from Manehattan. To fly away from all of the bullies and school work. To be free from her troubles, never having to worry about them again.
Suddenly, a thought overtook her mind. It soon hatched into a plan, and the bob-tailed filly was possessed with a sudden energy.
“Dat’s it!” she exclaimed, “I know just what ta do!”
-o0o-
Gilda sat in the center of what remained of her apartment. Upon arriving at home, her anger had finally come to her, and she had swiftly destroyed everything she owned.
“...And tomorrow morning we get to see the HMS Harmonious take off for the very first time!”
Well, almost everything. Her radio still worked, but only barely. It sat in a corner among what was left of her shredded mattress and the remains of its casing. The filthy carpeting that she suspected was once white but had over time become a repulsive grey had long streaks torn out of it in the pattern of her claws. Really the only thing at all left standing was her door, but that was only because she didn’t want her landlord barging in. She didn’t want to see anyone else that day. She just wanted to escape, to run away like she always had in the past. It had worked for a time, maybe she just needed to try again.
“That’s right! That magnificent airship will be going on her maiden voyage just before school starts even, so don’t forget to take the foals out to see it!”
“The Harmonious,” Gilda muttered. “The Harmonious!” her voice grew, and she stood. “That’s it! I know just what to do!”
-o0o-
And so it happened that a pony and a griffin who had never met each other had the same idea at the same time. Later, they would chuckle upon realizing that at the same time in entirely different parts of the city, both had shouted the same thing.
“I’ll fly away on the Harmonious!”