Iccy's Flying Machine, Mk 10, Test 1

Icarus Breathed in, and breathed out.

Today was the day.

"Q-Quick Check..."

"W-Wings!" A quick flick of magic brought the Device on his back, Powered by a Charged Gemstone, to life, a whirr of the engine starting up. "C-Check!"

"B-Boots!" He tightened the Strap of the boots Enchanted with the Cloudwalking Spell. "C-Check!"

"N-Nothing L-Left t-to do b-but...!"

Icarus Ran off the building, Off over the street.

Flap.

Iccy, for a moment, couldn't tell if the wings were flapping, or if that was just his heartbeat.

Flap.

He'd have some more Safety precautions now: There was a net below.

Flap.

That's funny, Why is it like He was Falling UP?

Iccy opened his eyes, And realized he was flying.

He was FLYING.

It WORKED.


-----------------------------------------------

Stormy have been enjoying the quiet afternoon, merely taking in the sun on a rolling hills. when he happened upon a flying pony, making his way across the sky. "Ahahahahahaahaha. That reminds me of a story I once read. I do hope the sun doesn't become a main character in this escapade."

Intel looked at his partner through his binoculars.

"Okay, so atmospheric magic does help, and the gemstone does last a decent amount of time for the required energy spent," he muttered, noting the flight path down. He counted to fifty in his head, and then started the highly sophisticated signalling system he had set up.

"Okay, Iccy!" he called through the washing machine turned loudspeaker. "Set it down, we can't over stress the enchanted emerald!"

Shala had been a distance away from the crowd, wanting to avoid the crowd. She couldn't stand being in crowds, and last time she did not do so well. But all worry soon left her as she saw Iccy begin to soar.

"He's....HE'S FLYING!" She leapt up and down in place, cheering with enthusiasm she didn't know she had. "He flipping flying! That crazy gear head is flying!"

---

Lorenza showed up just in time with Indigo to see the spectacle. She had only been here a few days and already there was a pony flying. One of her first patients too. Smiling, she watched him manage a feat only few ponies could dream of.

"Wow...I thought he could do it. I hope that is safe though."

It couldn't have gone any better. Indigo had planned to arrive right at the takeoff time. If there was one thing he hated it was arriving early and having to wait. What he hated even more, however, was being late. If he thought he would have been late arriving he wouldn't have even bothered stepping out of the house.

Now that he was here he looked up into the sky to see the spectacle. He honestly couldn't believe it. "I wish he hadn't. I was wanting to invest in it. Possibly still can. Still though I can't believe he's done it. I figured Iccy was just as insane as the rest of us."

Iccy nodded toward Intel, and Slowly, Made his Decent. With a small Smile brought on by The Thrill of Actually Flying, and swooped over the crowd, giving a couple flaps before Landing neatly. The wings, once the Machine was shut off, folded themselves neatly to Iccy's sides, not unlike a Real Pegasus wing.

Iccy Beamed Proudly, Still pumped with adrenalin from the flight, and nearly bounced up and down on the street. "I-ItworkedItw-workedItWORKED!"

Stormy looked among the crowd with a hawk like stare. "Where are you thief?" He grinned as he walked down to join the forming crowd.

Intel clicked his tongue as the wings folded into his workmates' sides. "Showoff," he joked to himself, as he climbed down from the washing machine. There was an audience, which was good, he thought as he gathered his notes. He would write up a report later, and send it to scientific journals. Publish or perish, so it was said. He recalled that Indigo was an editor, so maybe he could use him to get this trial 'officialised' in the public eye. On this day, Icarus will be remembered as the first pony to work a Mechanised Compact Flying Machine. The one to be credited, and be written in the history books. Intel smiled. Celestia knew the shy pony deserved it.

Remembering what happened last time, he spoke into the speaker again.

"Okay, ponies! Give the pony space! Don't crowd around him! That equipment's valuable and took ages to put together! I should know! The emerald was extremely difficult to attach! Plus, he doesn't like being swamped! He's not Rainbow Dash, he can't pull a rainboom! Maybe he will in the future! But not now! Let him through!"

Shala bounced on her hooves a few times just as Iccy did. She was away from the crowd though, unable to get close to anyone. While it was a bit isolating, she was enjoying the moment and couldn't care too much. She smiled smugly and simply watched, eyes on the accomplished pony.

---


"You could always throw money at his feet right now and call that 'investing'." She chuckled. Lori's eyes gazed over the crowd, seeing so many ponies she had yet to meet. One that seemed to be rather happy but detached from the crowd caught her eye. She looked at the one with the washing machine too, figuring maybe that was the pony that was Iccy's coworker at his shop.

Though his speech and mannerisms didn't betray it, he actually was genuinely surprised that this early prototype could and did work. After the hullabaloo was all over he'd definitely try to make a financial contribution to the making of the device. He lived spartanly in his small home and had such accrued a fair some of money from his job.

Indigo's interest in the machine was divided into two parts. Firstly was the academic part of his brain. He had the honor of chronicling this event, as well as himself, into the annals of history, even though his own name would most likely only be read by school foals in the future as a compliment to an essay over the machine or Iccy himself looking for an extra source that had bothered to trawl through the newspaper archives of their library. Secondly was his business mind looking for a few extra bits down the line through his potential later investment. It'd be a sizable chunk of change later on, though he didn't expect a salary or anything.

After all, excluding a few mavericks, everypony was relatively happy with who they were. He'd yet to meet an earth pony or unicorn (besides Iccy) who lusted after the skies. Earth ponies grew food and labored, pegasi flew and controlled the weather, and unicorns had access to magic. Nopony felt disenfranchised over others' talents, except for blank flanks, and a pony's cutie mark ultimately decided what their role in life would be and everypony was, for the most part, content with what fate had given to them. The only ponies who would buy such a creation would be the idle rich and thrill seekers. They would be the only ponies who could even afford such a thing. And just like any other toy it would be occasionally played with after the novelty wore off and ultimately forgotten, as it should be.

To Indigo, making everypony equal would do nothing but cheapen the gifts each of the three types of ponies were given and would make everypony that much less unique. Later today he would most definitely write his thoughts down into a more coherent paper.

"I'll talk with 'em later on, see how they are on cash."

Iccy blushed a bit from the crowd, waving a hoof to head them off. So many Ponies... Iccy went inside his Garage, Waiting to talk to his friends after the crowd had dissipated. He personally couldn't believe it. He FLEW. Not with any Wings of Dew Spells, not with any Magical aid outside of some enchanted boots and Charged battery, But with Mechanical wings he put together himself.

Stormy clapped as his voice boomed over the the rest of the ponies. "Ahahahahahahaahaa. How wondrous! Surely a true marvel."

Stormy's eyes were on the flying machine. He stood here today seeing ponykind advance, he was drinking in history. He did wish he could enjoy it.

He saw Intelligent yelling to send the hordes of ponies away from Iccy. Also he saw Shala peeking about and Indigo. He felt a bit bad last time they met for he had sort of dumped a foal in his life. Stormy regretted doing so, but he was sure the colt was treating her well. Stormy pondered if he should say hello to them or not. He had to pay attention to the machine.

Intel followed Iccy inside the workshop, closing the door behind him. He smiled and nodded at Icarus, saying nothing. After a brief silence, he signaled for the shy inventor to show him the engine.

"Okay, let's see the state of the emerald shall we?" he said, levitating a pair of pliers. Handling them with care, he slowly extracted the gem from the engine. Or at least, what was the gem. It looked as pale as a cobblestone, a thin wisp of smoke being emitted from the dull rock. Clicking his tongue, Intel carefully placed it in a container, specially made to hold 'denatured' gemstones. At its state, it could disintegrate easily, and the particles would be dangerous to inhale.

"Beyond reuse, I'm afraid," he lamented, shaking his head, "It's a good thing that you didn't decide to do a lap of honour, else the engine might have caught fire, or exploded. Like what almost happened to that poor turtle...or was it a tortoise?" That was so very almost a disaster, averted only by the quick reflexes of its owner. Thankfully, the use of the device was supplemented by cloudwalking shoes, so when one failed, the other would kick in. A parachute was also covertly installed.

He shrugged. "Anyway. How are you feeling, yourself?"

Shala saw Iccy go inside along with Intel. She wanted to follow them, but the crowd was not fully dispersed yet. Wincing, she closed her eyes and began to blindly push her way though ponies.

To those inside, they would hear a loud thunk on the door as Shala's head collided with it. After a few moments of muttered curses, the door opened with a slightly less happy Shala coming through and a fresh bump on her head.

"HeyIccycongradulationsonflying!" She sputtered out all at once, still catching her breath from pushing through that crowd.

---

Lori felt a pony push by her and through other ponies until it hit the door of Iccy's work shop. "Well somepony is in a hurry. Must be a friend...." She said, looking at the blue maned pony as it got inside.

Indigo looked up as several ponies went airborne themselves as a blue and cream streak whizzed by. "Aaaand there goes Shala, the drunk I told you about. Hm.. maybe you can ply your trade on her, come on." It took a bit of doing, but he managed to break through the crowd and into the open area Shala had cleared. He quickly trotted through the gap and over ponies that were still falling from the sky.

Iccy was still bouncing up and down from flying. So, A hug for everypony inside. "I-I FLEW!" He repeated to everyone. He nodded to Intel when he extracted the Gem, which turned to dust, which stopped Iccy's bouncing. Not his wide grin, though. "C-Charged G-Gems AREN'T a viable fuel source, g-good to k-know!"

He opened a minifridge, offering the contents to everypony inside.

Intel smiled uneasily with the strong embrace, but accepted the drink more easily. He was deep in thought, and only nodded at Shala's entrance. Sipping the drink, he examined the engine more thoroughly, trying to figure out if it could be improved magically. The problem is that simply no gemstone could provide enough energy for long enough...

Shala huffed and caught her breath. She welcomed the refreshments that Iccy provided. None seemed to be alcoholic, but anything to drink right now was enough to distract her from the scene she just left. The first soda she grabbed she was halfway through in just a few moments.

---

"Oh, I would love to get introduced, but I only practice when appropriate. It would be rude of me on this day." She followed Indigo to the door of the workshop, waiting there for Indi to knock and get them admitted.

And so Indi knocked quite firmly on the door to get the attention of those inside. "Hey Iccy, Intel, it's Indigo! Open the damn door already."

Iccy opened the door, bright and giddy with Excitement. "H-Hi Indy! Hi L-Lori! I f-flew!" he repeated, bouncing back to do a victory dance.

Leaving the engine aside, Intel then went to his notes, scribbling the estimation of the magical forces and comparing them to the outcome of Iccy's flight path. All in all, a bit less than expected...

After sating her initial thirst, Shala took a few breaths to calm down and laid back to take a seat. She hardly noticed the two new arrivals until she heard their names aloud. Looking over, she nodded to Indigo, but peered at Lori. She did not know this mare, but Iccy seemed to as well as Indigo. She would have to take her on a bar run sometime.

---


Lori put on a good smile for everyone. "I know Iccy. I saw you fly and it was spectacular! You will be the talk of the town for ages. I knew you could do it." She moved into the room and took a comfy seat on the couch, leaving room for anyone else to take a seat. She took a few glances around, noting Intel and Shala whom both had not really been introduced to her yet.

Time to shine, Indigo He put on a wide grin. "It was spectacular! I'm going to write it up as the most spectacular feat of engineering since the train, which it is." He points a hoof at both Iccy and Intel for effect. "The both of you are going to be immortalized." He trotted over to lay down in the seat Lori left open. "If I could I'd build a monument, real fine example of unicorn craftsponyship."

He takes a moment to polish his monocle on his coat and drops it at a sudden realization and chuckles. "Oh I got caught up in the moment. Lori, the blue... both blue... the bright blue maned one is Shalalalaska Woods the Braider, and the other blue one that's scribbling notes instead of meeting guests is Intelligent Design, but just call him Intel."

Iccy bounced, but blushed as Indy described the immortalization. Probably was Exaggerating, but still.

"I-It's not c-complete yet. T-The Powersource d-doesn't last long e-enough to do more than t-the demonstration t-today." Iccy explained, nodding. "O-Once w-we Conquer t-that, W-We can work on m-making it more c-cost effective." he added, grinning.

"He's right, you know," Intel said from his spot, "Iccy, that is. There's still a whole lot of work to be done to make the flying vehicle more applicable to society. As well as a viable power source, it has to be easier to use, more durable, able to transport cargo...faster, cheaper, easier, better. Hopefully it will get to the point where Iccy can fly the thing in his sleep."

Taking his glasses off to nod at the new arrival, he said, "Hello, miss. Nice to meet you."