The Stranded Pilot

Maverick was in pain. He used his non stung arm to push himself up, but when he tried to stand, he teetered on his feet. He fumbled around his pockets, trying to open one.

"What's wrong? Are, are you alright?" asked Fluttershy, getting to her hooves.

"I'm allergic to bees; I need to get to a hospital, but first…" He cringed as his stung hand brushed his leg. Using his good arm, he pulled one of the pockets on his jacket open, and grabbed a yellow pen shaped objet out of his pocket. He put it to his mouth and, biting down on it, yanked it out of his mouth. It left a small yellow lid between his teeth, and a needle jutted out of the pen.

Fluttershy's mouth was agape as Maverick stabbed it into his arm and sighed as the swelling in his arm and hand went down.

"There. That was an adrenaline shot. I should be ok now, b-but I need to see doctor." he said, looking pale.

"I-it's ok. I could treat you, I have a medical kit at my house." Fluttershy stuttered.

Maverick nodded. "O-ok, l-lets-" he stopped as he fell to the floor with a thump.

Fluttershy gasped. She grabbed the sleeve of Mavericks good arm with her mouth and began pulling him towards her house, leaving the half eaten picnic behind.

"Ouch." he muttered in a quiet voice. "I hate using t-those epi-pens." He let Fluttershy pull him, too shaky to even turn his head.

Maverick was sitting on the couch in Fluttershy's house, a half hour later. His head was swimming from the adrenaline shot, the buzz still coursing through him. His hand was aching, but Fluttershy had treated it well. He was surprised by how similar allergy treatments were between the two worlds. Fluttershy walked in with a bowl of soup.

"Here, this should help you get your strength back." she put the bowl down next to him. Maverick didn't particularly like soup, but guessed he could have a few spoonful's if it would make him better. As he thought about this Fluttershy fed him a spoon of the soup before he could protest. He mumbled through the spoon in his mouth.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" asked Fluttershy, removing the spoon from his mouth.

Maverick swallowed the soup, which tasted of tomato. "I s-said, I can feed myself." he said not unkindly, stuttering from the extra adrenaline.

"O-ok. Here." she handed him the spoon, which he took with his good hand. He fed himself the soup, which actually tasted pretty good, while Fluttershy watched.

"Is there s-something you want to ask?" he asked her, before eating another spoonful.

"O-oh, well, never mind, it's not important." she stuttered back, looking away.

"Please, a-ask away."

"Um, well, what was that needle thing you used?"

Maverick put the spoon down and pulled the now empty epi-pen from his pocket. "It's called an epi-pen. Humans u-use them as a temporary medicine for most allergic reactions, until we get proper treatment. The only thing is, w-when I use it, I get all jittery and weak. That's w-why I'm stuttering." He shook himself. "Thank you for your help Fluttershy, from when I c-collapsed from the adrenaline. I would still be stuck there if it wasn't for you."

"O-oh, it was nothing, really." she gushed.

"Well, I appreciate your help. The bandage a-aswell." While Fluttershy had been treating the sting on his right hand, she had also replaced the bandage on his left arm and checked the cut, but it seemed fine, and remarkably didn't need stitches.

"It's ok, I'm just trying to help." she smiled and took the bowl and spoon away, walking to where he guessed the kitchen was.

Maverick sat back on the couch and closed his eyes, regaining his strength. As much as he hated using the adrenaline shots, he needed them. He had another one in the same pocket, but that was it. He would either have to get more from a hospital, provided they even had them here, or make sure he didn't get stung again. He stood up and felt his head spin, but he was good to walk back to the library. He found Fluttershy and ducked down in the doorway.

"I'm going to head back to the library now, Twilight will be wondering where I am."

"Are you sure? I know, I'll come with you to make sure you're ok." she said.

Maverick shook his head and held out his hand. "Thanks, but I'll be ok."

"Well, if you're sure. It was nice seeing you again." Fluttershy smiled.

"You too." Maverick smiled back and left. As he was walking down the path, a thought struck him. He turned and walked to the field Fluttershy had had her picnic, and sure enough it was still there. He packed it up, picked up the basket with his left hand and took it back to Fluttershy's house. He knocked on the door.

"Oh, back already. Are you alright?" Fluttershy asked when she saw it was him.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but I brought your picnic back." he put the basket down in front of her.

"Oh! Thank you, I had forgotten about it." she picked it up with her mouth and walked into the house.

"See you later Fluttershy." Maverick raised his hand, and she turned around and waved at him with her hoof. Maverick closed the door and began walking back to the library, thinking to himself. He thought about the things he needed to do, which included thanking Rainbow Dash. He had to get an axe and some help from Applejack, and make the generator. He looked up and saw the sky was starting to darken, and realised he would have to do it tomorrow. He quickened his pace, eager to get back to the library.

10 minutes later and he arrived. He stepped through the door and saw Twilight reading a book on a couch. She looked up when she heard him close the door.

"Where were you? I thought you'd be back by now." she said with a raised eye brow

"Yeah, there was a, small complication." he said dismissively.

"Uh, ok. I made supper." she walked into the kitchen and returned a second later, levitating out a plate with some hay. Maverick laughed this and shook his head, standing in basement doorway.

"Twilight, I don't eat hay. I'm good though, Fluttershy made me some soup. Thanks anyway."

Twilight smiled. "Ok. Are you going to bed?"

Maverick thought for a few seconds. "I could use a shower actually. Is that alright?" he asked.

"Sure, it's up the stairs, second door on the left."

"Thanks." Maverick nodded and walked into the basement, putting his flight jacket in the wardrobe. He left the basement and went to walk up the stairs to the second floor, but stopped and turned to Twilight.

"Uh, do you have a spare towel?"

Twilight giggled "Yeah, use the blue one."

Maverick nodded and continued up the stairs. He stripped down, turned the shower on and stepped in to the stream of hot water, but had to either kneel down or sit because the lower shower head, built for a pony's height. He enjoyed the hot water ran down his back and flowed through his hair, massaging his back. He grabbed a bar of soap and lathered himself, massaging his stung hand. The water turned a satisfying grey as it washed the dirt off of him, and he realized that he must have looked filthy.

After another 2 minutes of cleaning himself, he turned the shower off, stood up and grabbed the towel, rubbing the water out of his eyes. He towelled himself off and wrapped the towel around his waist, picked up his folded clothes Rarity had made for him then made his way back to the basement.

When he reached the top of the second story stairs, he heard 2 voices. One was Twilight, and the other he recognized as Spike. He walked down and the voices stopped, and he saw Twilight peek her head around the kitchen door.

"Done already?" asked Twilight.

Maverick nodded, stopping at the basement entrance. "I'm trained to be ready to take off whenever I'm needed, so I do things quickly. That includes showering." he turned and walked into the basement, but not before Twilight saw a large scar running across his back. She made a mental note to ask him about it later.

5 minutes later, Mavericks hair was mussed and wet, but he was feeling refreshed. He laid down on his bed and sighed, closing his eyes. A minute later, he was asleep.

Maverick woke to the noise of the basement door opening.

"No, he's not awake Twi."

He recognized the voice from the day he had been found in the clearing; it was Rainbow Dash. When he heard the pony begin to trot down the stairs, he decided to keep his eyes closed and pretend to stay asleep. He heard the hoof steps stop.

"What the hay is this?" he heard her whisper.

A second later he heard more hoof steps, and the familiar noise of the rolling pins spinning as the treadmill was used.

"Neat." she whispered.

He heard the pins speed up as Rainbow Dash went from a trot to a gentle run, then to a full gallop.

"This is AWESOME." she said more loudly than before.

"If I hadn't of already been awake, I would be now." Maverick said without opening his eyes.

"WHA-!" Rainbow Dash shouted, before being thrown off the end of the treadmill, into the wall with a crash.

Maverick sat up and raised an eyebrow. "Good morning Rainbow Dash." he looked at his watch, which said it was 12:09. "…or perhaps afternoon. Damn those epi-pens, they always make me tired."

Dash's eyes did circles, before she shook herself and rubbed her head. "A little warning would be nice you know."

Maverick laughed. "Now where would the fun be in that? Anyway, I presume you wanted something, or do you normally sneak into people's rooms while they're sleeping?"

"I wanted to talk to you." she replied, standing up.

"About what?" Maverick stood as well, stretching and rubbing his eyes.

"I dunno. Stuff. Like, what's that thing you made there?" she pointed at the treadmill with her hoof.

"It's a treadmill. It's a common piece of exercise equipment on Earth. You seemed to enjoy it."

"Yeah, it's awesome. Can you make me one?" she asked pleadingly.

"Sure, I don't see why not. What else did you want to talk about? You only saw the treadmill when you came in, so there must be something else."

"Well…" Dash rubbed the back of neck. "I was wondering about that plane thing of yours."

"What about it?"

"Well, how many of those things are there?"

Maverick thought about his answer. "Many Thousands. The types I fly are… highly specialised." he was careful to word it without lying or revealing the violent nature of his race. The answer made Rainbow Dash gape.

"Thousands…" she trailed off. "Do you do stuff like the Wonderbolts?" she asked excitedly.

"The Wonderbolts? Who are they?"

"You don't know who the Wonderbolts are?" she asked, her mouth agape again.

"You know, I'm from a different world. Of course I don't. Who are they?" He asked, walking over to the treadmill.

"They're only the BEST fliers in all of Equestria, except for me, of course. They do races, air shows, and save ponies in danger!" she shouted gleefully, a sparkle in her eye as she must have been recalling there numerous shows.

Maverick thought about it. "I once flew with 2 others to celebrate a royal wedding, but I've never done anything as exciting as that."

"Cool. Do you know any tricks?"

Maverick smiled wryly, stepping onto the treadmill. "Yeah, I know some tricks," he started jogging "Barrel rolls, loop-de-loops, that sorta stuff. Why?"

"Well, I wanted to see you do them. You know, when your planes fixed."

"Sure. But that's gonna take a LONG time, maybe a couple of months. I sure hope Twilights spell stopped time on my planet, like she said…" he trailed off. He stepped of the treadmill and wiped his brow after a few minutes of silence. "I'm gonna get some breakfast." Something occurred to hm. "What day is it?"

"Uh, Sunday, why?"

"I might as well spend the day chilling out then. I've got time to kill until the Princess arranges the materials, tools and workforce to help me fix the plane. What is there to do around here?"

"Well, there's the spa, but I get the feeling you wouldn't really appreciate that. Other than that, there's some Café's and restaurants around town." she said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

Maverick shook his head. "The less contact I have with other ponies, the better. I might freak them out, you know, being a half of your height taller."

"Hm, I guess that could be a problem."

Maverick yawned and stretched again. "Well, I'm hungry, so I'll have some breakfast, then figure out what to do. I feel like having a run, a proper run."

"Well, there's a path through the forest that we use for the Running of the Leaves. If you want, I could show you it. Hey, maybe we could have a race?"

"You're a pony. You'll win." he said bluntly.

"I know, that's the fun part." she giggled.

"Well, I'll take up the offer of the tour. But first," he clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "I need some breakfast."