The Stranded Pilot

A Week Later

Maverick was running on his treadmill, charging the plane battery. In the week he had been charging the battery, it had charged about 20%. It wasn't as much as he had wanted in the time, but as it was it would be enough for a test flight as soon as the plane was ready, which wouldn't be for a while. He thought about making a solar panel that could charge the plane constantly. Yesterday Twilight had received a letter from the Princess saying she had gathered the materials and that specialists would be at Ponyville by the end of the week. He had had several more studies with Twilight, and she now knew most things about his race. He had even found pictures of his time on the carrier on his IPhone, eating in the canteen with the other pilots, meeting American pilots in a naval exercise, even one taken of him by one of his wingmen in a flight with him, Maverick and 3 other Eurofighters.

Rainbow Dash had seen some of the pictures when she had come back for the treadmill, which Maverick had painted the body of the same cyan blue as Dash and painted in a rainbow on the treadmill pad all the way round. Dash had been ecstatic about it, but had almost forgotten about it when she saw his pictures. She had wanted to see all of them, so he had shown her them.

He had shown her the ones of his life on the carrier with the other pilots, eating in the canteen, arm wrestling matches, even a game of football played on the carrier's flight deck. She had been fascinated by the way planes were launched off the end.

He had been to see Applejack and they had started clearing the trees where the runway would go. He would chop them, and Applejack would buck them over and pull them over to the clearing, where they had been stacked up. Mostly his time was spent at the library running, but he also drew a lot, and commonly went to the same hill. It was a sort of special skill.

So overall, everything was progressing well.

He was interrupted from his morning run by a knocking on the basement door. He took the headphones out of his ears, making sure to pause the music he was listening to, and slowed down to let the treadmill push him of, then answered.

"Come in." he wiped his brow as the whirring generator slowed and stopped.

"Hi Maverick." Dash appeared in the doorway. Maverick had realised he had a good friend in this world not long after the tree house incident. He guessed both being avid and skilled fliers helped.

"Hey Dash. What brings you here?"

"Well, there's a Wonderbolts show coming up, and none of my other friends are free to come, so I was wondering if you wanted to. Ponies are used to you around here now, so you should be ok."

Maverick smiled at the thought she thought of him as a friend. "Sure, but I thought you said they performed in the clouds. How am I supposed to get up there?"

"They're doing a show for earth ponies near the ground." she explained.

"Then I'd be happy to accept your invitation. Thanks Dash." Maverick smiled.

"No problem. How's charging the battery going?" Dash walked over to the battery under the blanket.

"Meh. It's charging well, but taking longer than I thought it would. It should be at half power by the time the planes airworthy. If I'm lucky."

"So you're planes gonna be ready to fly? Soon?" her eyes sparkled, and Maverick had come to recognize excitement in her eyes.

"You wanna see it fly, don't you?"

"Mm-hm." she nodded.

"So do I Dash. I get ratty when I'm grounded. Tell you what, why don't you show me the skies when I get it working?"

"I'd love to!" she turned to leave, but Maverick stopped her.

"Wait, whens the air show?"

"2 days. I'll meet you here. See ya later!" she walked off, closing the door behind her.

Maverick laughed. Dash wasn't much for goodbyes. He put the headphones back on, and started the music again, but this time went over to the bed and wrote down an idea for a picture. He picked up a few tacks, and stuck a large piece of parchment to a board, lining up several pots of ink and a quill. He looked through a stack of scrolls he kept in his wardrobe, next to his flight helmet.

Some of them were collections of small doodles, a pegasus moving a cloud, an apple tree, a market stall. Others were full size pictures of skies full of pegasi, or Ponyville, or the surrounding countryside. He had even drawn several of life on Earth, city skylines, ships and planes. Some were coloured, others just black and white. Only Dash knew about his skill, and that was when she had snuck up on him. He planned to keep it that way.

2 Days Later

Maverick got his flight vest out of the wardrobe and smiled at the drawing Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom had drawn for him as a thank you. He pulled the vest on, doing up the buckles and making sure he had the stuff he was taking to the airshow. A large pot of ink and a quill, as well as a sandwich he had made earlier, plus a bottle of apple soda. He was looking forward to this, something to get him out of his usual regime. He laced up his boots and made his way up the stairs.

"Hey Maverick. What's with the fancy get-up?" Spike asked. He was at the top of a ladder replacing books.

"Going to a Wonderbolts air show with Dash." he answered, placing the scroll on the floor and sitting on a stool next to it.

"Cool. She must like you to ask, usually she only asks Twilight and her other friends. She usually just spends her time showing off her flying skills, trying to convince the Wonderbolts to let her join."

"That so?" Maverick raised an eyebrow, then stood back up and looked around for a book. "Got any books on the Wonderbolts?"

"Sure." Spike tossed a book over to him, stepping down off the ladder.

"Thanks." Maverick nodded as he caught it and watched Spike leave with another pile of books in his arms.

He read up on the Wonderbolts while he waited for Dash to arrive. When she did, she did so in style, crashing through the front door and striking a pose. She was wearing a baseball cap with the Wonderbolts insignia.

"Very subtle Dash. Shall we go?" Maverick asked. He put the book down and picked up the scroll.

"Yeah, come on!" she ran out the door and jumped into the air, forcing Maverick to jog just to keep up.

"Slow down Dash!" he shouted.

"Oops, sorry. Keep forgetting you're so slow." Dash said teasingly.

"I bet if I were a pony I could keep up with you." Maverick said.

"Yeah, well, you're not." Dash said, flying upside down.

"I hadn't noticed. Thanks for clarifying Dash." Maverick said jokingly.

"What's with the scroll?" Dash asked.

"Well, you've really talked up the Wonderbolts, so I thought I'd draw them during the show."

"Cool."

They made their way to the large field the air show was being held, merging with dozens of other ponies making their way to the stands. Maverick spotted a hill nearby.

"Dash, I'm gonna head up there." Maverick said, pointing.

"Why, don't you want to sit in the stands?" Dash asked.

"Nah, I might still freak some ponies out."

"Well, I'll come with you then, so we both have someone to talk to." Dash said, landing next to him.

"Thanks Dash." Maverick said, smiling.

They made their way to the hill near a tree, Dash lying on a branch. Maverick pulled out the ink and quill, and hunted around for a large rock to rest his scroll on. Eventually he found one the size of his chest, then went back to where he was sitting and placed it in his lap, placing the scroll on top and the quill and ink next to him.

Within minutes, he heard a roar overhead and Dash shouted. He looked up to see six streaks across the sky made of smoke, lightning bolts and what looked like clouds. The Wonderbolts were making a loud entrance in true air show fashion. He remarked at how they sounded like jets.

"Look look look! It's their signature move!" Dash pointed as the Wonderbolts corkscrewed and met up in a ball, exploding outwards like a firework.

Well, Maverick knew what he was going to draw.

An hour later, Maverick beckoned Dash down from the tree.

"It's better if you listen to music while you watch." he said. He held up the IPhone.

"Uh, ok." Dash said uncertainly.

Maverick helped Dash put the headphone in her ear, but her face lit up when she heard the music and saw the Wonderbolts performing.

"You're right, this is so cool." Dash said.

"Well look who it is, Rainbow Crash. And what are you?"

Maverick and Dash stood and turned around to look at the voice, making the headphone fall out of her ear. Three male pegasi were standing there.

"Well well well. I didn't expect to see you three losers here." Dash said back.

"We were thinking the same thing about you Crash." said the one with a basketball cutie mark.

"And what are you?" asked the one with a football cutie mark, apparently a jock, pointing at Maverick.

"Human." he said simply.

"Huh, sounds stupid." said the one with basketball cutie mark said.

"Says you, I've beat you in every race we've had! And, you got grounded for misusing clouds." Dash shouted.

"I bet I could beat you even without my wings!" said the one with dumbbells for a cutie mark, speaking for the first time.

"Go on then. Prove you're better than Dash." Maverick said, crossing his arms.

"Uh, well…" he stuttered.

"We're too cool to hang out here. Come on guys." the basketball one covered for him, then they stalked off.

"Thanks for sticking up for me, Mav." Dash said when they had gotten out of earshot.

"Who were those jerks?" he asked her.

"Hoops, Dumbbell and Score. Some real annoying ponies from flight school."

"Hopefully we won't see them again. Damn!" he knelt down and picked up his pot of ink which had spilled. None had gone on his drawing thankfully, but he barely had any left for the rest. It was only half done. Dash saw it and gasped.

"That's awesome Maverick. You're really good." she picked it up and held it in front of her, hovering a foot off the ground.

Drawn meticulously were the six Wonderbolts coming out of their signature move, all shooting in different directions. Even though it wasn't coloured, Dash could instantly tell which Wonderbolt was which. Rapidfire, Soarin', Spitfire, Fleetfoot. The dazzling explosion of light was surrounded by small sparkles, and underneath were two half drawn bleachers full of cheering ponies. In the distance there was a hill with a half drawn tree and them.

"Thanks, but can I have it back?" Maverick held out his hand.

"Sure. Wow Mav, you should show that to somepony. It's awesome. I know, the Wonderbolts are signing posters and stuff. Maybe you could get them to sign that?"

"I dunno, Dash. They're gonna be pretty busy-" Maverick said before getting cut off.

"No buts. That picture is awesome, and you're getting it signed. Look, they're done."

Maverick saw the Wonderbolts flare their wings and slow to a stop before taking a flying bow, to the applause of the three-hundred strong crowd of ponies in the stands.

"Come on, hurry!" Maverick found Dash was physically pushing him, hovering in the air in her usual style.

"Fine, but I'm a grown man. I can walk, thank you very much." he walked forward out of her reach and shrugged his shoulders. His face made him look angry, but he couldn't stifle a small smile.

By the time they arrived at the booth, there were twenty other ponies in front of them.

"Told ya." Maverick said.

"Shut up." she punched his arm playfully.

Maverick could hear several ponies whispering, probably about him. He was used to it, but was surprised when a small colt walked up to him and nudged his leg.

"Are you the pony that rescued the three small fillies?" he asked with a remarkable British accent. Maverick turned around and looked at him.

"Sure am." Maverick said, smiling.

The small colt held up a cap identical to Dash's, except smaller. "Can you sign this?"

Maverick was surprised. He hadn't expected his feat to warrant signature requests.

The small pony's mother stepped forward. "Are you sure Pipsqueak?"

"Yeah mum. Now I can get Mavericks and the Wonderbolts!"

"Well, if you're sure buddy." Maverick said. He knelt down and pulled out his quill and ink. He had just enough left. He dipped it in and got ready to write.

"Where do you want it?" he asked, quill poised.

"Right here, please." Pipsqueak pointed to under the brow, and Maverick signed it.

"Thanks mister!" Pipsqueak put the cap back on.

"No problem." Maverick said, before putting the quill and now empty ink pot back in his pockets and standing up. He turned to face Rainbow Dash, who had moved forward in the line. She was giving him a look.

"What?" he asked smugly. "Jealous ponies don't want your signature?" he teased.

"I'm not afraid to hit you again." she said.

Maverick pointed in front of her. "Uh, Dash, the line."

She turned. "Omigosh omigosh OMIGOSH!" they were at the front of the queue, and the Wonderbolts were sitting behind the stand, smiling.

"Hey, I recognize you. Hi again Dash." Spitfire said.

"Oh wow, hi Spitfire." Dash said, acting a surprisingly shy.

"Uh, who's your friend?" Spitfire asked, peering around Dash to look at Maverick.

"I'm Maverick. Human, in case you're wondering."

"Well, nice to meet you Maverick. Wait a minute, aren't you that human who saved those three fillies?" Spitfire asked.

"Yeah. I guess word really travels fast." Maverick was surprised.

"It sure does." she held out her hoof and Maverick shook it.

"As a pilot, I have to say your stunts were good." Maverick said.

If Spitfire was surprised, she didn't show it. She laughed. "Only good?"

Maverick smiled. "I must say your signature move is unlike anything I've seen. Then again, we can't do much like that in our world. Anyway, Dash wants her cap signed."

Dash scowled at this. "What about your drawing?"

"And she's convinced me to ask you to sign my drawing."

Spitfire signed Dash's cap and passed it to Fleetfoot. "A drawing? Let's have a look."

As the rest of the team signed Dash's cap, he unfurled the scroll.

"That's not half bad." she saw the small tree at the back with a pegasus and human. She pointed at it and smiled. "You? So you drew this in just this afternoon. Not bad at all." she picked up her quill and wrote her name at the bottom, then handed it to the others. They all admired it.

"So you said you were a pilot. Airships?" Soarin' asked.

"Sort of. It's basically the same league as you guys on my world, except we use advanced airships."

"We'll have to stop by some time and see it. Where you staying?" Rapidfire asked.

"Ponyville, the library." Maverick answered.

"We'll stop by some time then." Spitfire nodded goodbye, and Maverick and Dash left.

As they walked away Dash was buzzing.

"The Wonderbolts want to see you. Wow. This is amazing." her eyes were sparkling.

"I guess being an out of world visitor has its own special perks." he stumbled forward when Dash hit him. "Hey!" he shouted in surprise.

She giggled. "I warned you."

Maverick raised an eyebrow and they continued talking on their way back to Ponyville.

They reached the library and Maverick said goodbye to Dash at the door. When he stepped into the basement doorway he saw Twilight lying on the bed with his drawings spread around her, levitating some up to get a closer look. She looked up when heard Maverick walk in.

"How did you find those?" he asked worriedly.

"I walked in and saw the corner of one sticking out of the wardrobe. Why, I didn't do anything wrong did I?" she asked.

"No, it's just…" Maverick ran a hand through his hair. "…just ask next time."

"Sure. These are really good." Twilight levitated up a scroll with a small picture, the size of Mavericks palm, of her sitting in the study reading. "When did you do this one? I didn't see you."

"I had the scroll in a book. I didn't want you to know I was drawing you." Maverick admitted, making his way down the stairs.

"You could ask you know, I wouldn't mind. And this one," she levitated one of his large pictures that took a whole piece of parchment and had warranted coloured ink. On it was Ponyville, each building distinct in its detail. Twilight could see market stands, pegasi in the sky, ponies moving around town and even the library's roof. "This is amazing. Can I keep it?"

"Uh, sure. No-one's ever asked to keep one of my drawings before."

"Really?" Twilight was surprised.

"Nope. Now, do you mind if I get some rest? It was a long walk there and back."

"Sure." Twilight smiled and put all the parchments into a neat stack, bar the one of Ponyville, and placed them in the wardrobe before leaving. She stopped in the doorway.

"You have an amazing talent Maverick. You should show somepony."

Maverick waved her off, so she left and closed the door behind her. He didn't like showing others his drawings. He thought they detracted from the tough-as-steel Flight Captain exterior he put up. He took off the flight vest and put it in the wardrobe before lying down on the bed. He laid there thinking a few minutes, but was soon asleep.

A/N: From this point I was taking ideas, so feel free to PM them to me if you have any, like additional characters, scenarios etc. Remember to PM cuz if they're put in the comments I won't implement them.