Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress by Grundy  

Three turn: something that comes in threes

It had seemed a splendid idea at the time – all three of them should attempt flight at once. After all, they’d all helped, so why should they not all bask in the glory? The ‘first’ would be shared equally among them.

Unfortunately, for all their confidence, it seemed there had been a flaw somewhere. They did not fly like birds. They flew more like rocks, landing in an ignominious and rather painful heap at the base of the largest fig tree in the gardens.  

Ingo groaned as he tried to extricate himself from the tangle of broken wings and cousins.