The Stranded Pilot

A/N: Extra daily chapter because of reaching 100 followers!

Maverick nodded at the guards standing loyally at the clearing entrance. After waking up, he had charged the IPhone fully after 2 hours of running, now able to run properly after a night of sleep, and after adorning his flight jacket had then gotten a cart from Sweet Apple Acres and was now at the clearing to get the part of his plane.

"Thanks again for offering to help Twi, I don't know if I could do this myself. It's pretty heavy." he said to Twilight, who had made the walk with him.

"So you're just gonna take the 'battery' out?" she asked, still curious about the inner workings of the bulk of a machine.

"Yeah, they're designed to. You run out of power, land, get your battery replaced, take off again, usually all in less than 5 minutes. The whole process is designed for speed." he lifted the cart over the trough dug into the ground and put it down next to the plane. He knelt down, going down on his knees, and crawled under the plane.

"Alright Twilight, I'm going to un-attach the service panel, then when I say, I need you to grab the battery with your magic."

"Ok, sure." Twilight said nervously.

Maverick nodded, then went back to the service panel. He pulled his combat knife out of his ankle strap, and used it to lever away the service panel from the underside of the plane. Feeling it come loose in his hands, he slid it to the side and inspected the internal workings of the plane. A black hole had been blasted next to a large box the size of his fist, which he recognized as the primary power junction. It was connected to the right engine and the battery, and wires branched off to the secondary power junction and the rest of the plane. Sure enough, the box was almost intact, but the wires connecting it to the engine had been melted and destroyed by the heat of the strike.

He sighed, but began disconnecting the wires from the battery. Once this was done, he made sure Twilight was ready to grab the battery.

"Ready Twilight?"

"Uh, yeah." her magic surrounded the battery, and Maverick felt a tingling sensation in his fingers as he removed the bolts holding the battery in place. Rolling sideways towards Twilight, he asked her to lower it to just above the ground. He lifted up the blanket he had put in the cart.

"Ok Twilight, bring the battery over here and place it on the cart, sideways."

She nodded, gritting her teeth. The battery was large, about the size of body, but twice as high, designed to fit between the engines. Twilight could hardly lift it, so Maverick stepped in and held it by placing his hands under the battery. Together they placed the battery sideways on the cart, and Maverick covered it with the blanket before Twilight got too good a look at it. As it was, she noticed the half a dozen warning markings stencilled in using military paint.

"Is that safe?" she asked worriedly, as Maverick crawled back under the plane and re-attached the service panel.

"Don't worry, it's the stuff on the inside that's not safe, but it's built not to break. Short of being dismantled." he stood up and dusted himself off. "From what I can tell, the lightning hit the battery, took most of the power and then I got teleported, so the lightning didn't have a chance to go any further."

He set off, pulling the cart around the end of the trough, and began walking to Ponyville, talking to Twilight. When they reached Ponyville, he noticed ponies weren't giving him as many odd looks. He decided to ask Twilight about it.

"Oh the mayor addressed the town yesterday, while you were sleeping in. She said Princess Celestia had made you a guest here in Ponyville, and that nopony had to worry about your appearance." she answered happily.

"Well, I guess I can go out in public then." he chuckled. He let the cart free wheel the last ten metres to the library, then, with Twilights help, lifted the battery and took it inside, placing it next to the generator, the blanket still covering the battery.

"Thanks Twilight. Now, do you know where can I get the supplies you got for the treadmill?"

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well, I said I'd make Rainbow Dash one, and I keep promises. If it costs anything, I'll pay you back somehow." he assured her.

Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but she turned around at another voice in the doorway.

"Hey Maverick, I got the stuff for that treadmill you said you'd make." Rainbow Dash was standing in the basement doorway, holding the list he had made for Twilight several days ago.

Maverick turned to Twilight. "Never mind." he looked up at Rainbow Dash. "Sure, help me bring the stuff down, and I'll make it."

After five minutes Maverick had brought the junk that Rainbow Dash had collected down to the basement.

"One second Dash, I'm just going to hook up the battery." he lifted the blanket up only enough to reveal the finger-sized port the charge cable would plug into, but instead inserted the small copper wire. Realizing it wouldn't stay in place, he put it down and went over to the wardrobe, where he searched his flight jacket. Finding what he was looking for, he turned to Rainbow Dash and held it up. It was a packet of gum, but Rainbow Dash didn't know that.

"Want some?" he asked, pulling a piece out and throwing it in his mouth.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Gum. You chew it, and it tastes nice, like strawberry or mint. Here." he unwrapped another piece and held it out to Dash, who took it wearily. After looking it over, she put it in her mouth and chewed carefully.

"Not bad." she said.

Maverick nodded and after a minute of silent chewing, he picked it out of his mouth and used it to stick the wire into the charger port, while Dash put a hoof to her mouth and stifled a laugh.

"It's sticky as well." Maverick said, almost laughing himself at her reaction. He pulled gently on the lead a few times and contented himself it was secure.

"Can I run on yours until you make mine?" Dash asked.

"Sure, no problem." Maverick answered as Dash flew over to the treadmill and landed running.

Ten minutes later, Maverick had a brainwave.

"Dash, do you have any paint? Like the same as your mane and coat?" he slotted one of the rolling pins into place.

"Yeah," she was somewhat breathless after ten minutes on the treadmill "I've got some in my house, I'll go get them. Don't wait up." she flew out of basement door.

Maverick wondered what she meant. An hour later Dash's treadmill was done, but the pony in question had yet to return. He knew he had stuff to do, especially since it was still morning. He had yet to ask Applejack about cutting down some small trees, even if he couldn't until he moved any animals left. He remembered what Dash had said about not waiting up. Maverick wrote a quick note, saying he wanted to paint the treadmill before she took it and asking if she could leave it there. Then he donned his flight jacket and looked in a mirror. He looked a mess with a bandaged head, bandaged arm and his flight jacket with sleeves different lengths. He pulled the knife out his ankle strap and cut the sleeves off altogether, so that it was a vest.

After making sure it looked ok, he left for Fluttershy's, planning to drop the cart off to Applejack and ask her about an axe on the way. As it was, Maverick ran into Applejack by chance on the way out of Ponyville.

"Hey again Applejack, I was just on my way to give you your cart back."

"Well howdy sugar-cube. That's awfully kind of you, but have ya seen ma friend Rainbow Dash? She was supposed ta clear the clouds over my orchard today."

"As a matter of fact, I just finished making her treadmill. I last saw her an hour ago, she was going to get some paint from her house."

"Aw, knowing Rainbow she'll have gone ta sleep on some cloud. Thanks for yer help sugar-cube." as she put the carts harness on Maverick asked her about the trees.

"Hey Applejack, you're an orchard farmer, can you help me with some trees?"

"Uh, sure."

"Thanks. I need to cut some down for my runway for my plane, and I could use your help. Could you help me?"

She smiled "Sure thing partner. I can't help today 'cus I've got a bushel load of farm work to do, but if you come down ta Sweet Apple Acres sometime, I should be free ta help."

"Uh thanks Applejack." Maverick replied, trying to work out how much a bushel load of work was. Applejack set off back to Sweet Apple Acres.

Maverick arrived at Crash Clearing with Fluttershy. She had been reading a book, having fed and cared for her animals for the morning, and was free to help. She hid behind her mane from the guards, but followed him none the less. Maverick said he was going to mark out an area for the runway while she checked any animals.

After an hour, Maverick had marked a rough boundary by sticking broken twigs into the ground, and Fluttershy had looked for any animals. Sure enough, most had been scared off by the crash but some were still cowering in burrows. Fluttershy had coaxed them out, and in total there were roughly twenty animals.

"How will we make homes for them, Fluttershy?"

"W-well, we need to dig out small burrows for them somewhere else, and make some more nests for the birds. Actually, I think there's some spare where other birds have gone."

Maverick crossed his arms and smiled. "Let's do it now then."

"Ok, I'll go find somewhere for them. Come on little guys." she walked into the forest with the small mob of woodland creatures behind.

Maverick looked around Crash Clearing again. It had yet to rain here, and from what he had gathered, the pegasi controlled the weather, but knew he couldn't stop them from letting it rain here forever. It would make the ground boggy and trap his plane, not to mention potentially destroy it, if it got into the hole where the lightning had hit. He had to make sort of base for the wheels, then a tent or some kind of cover, and it couldn't wait until the materials arrived.

Fortunately the Royal Guards had some spare tenting, so he set it up to cover the open cockpit and damaged area of fuselage, but he'd have to come back with Twilight some time so she could help him lift the plane and slide some large rocks under the gear. Fluttershy hadn't come back yet and his legs were getting tired so he sat down on the grass against the front landing gear. He briefly thought about looking over the systems, but the plane was dead without the battery.

After ten minutes he wondered if Fluttershy was lost. That's when he noticed a small plume of smoke rising from the forest in the direction of Ponyville and wondered if there was a campfire somewhere. He stood up and walked over to the guard's tent. Outside the Captains two lieutenants were playing a card game on a table.

"Is the Captain here?" Maverick asked.

A unicorn with light blue armour similar to the Captains put his cards down. "No, he's away on leave in Canterlot; I'm in charge whiles he's gone. What's wrong?"

Maverick stepped back and pointed to the plume of smoke that was still rising into the sky. "Any idea what that is?"

The Lieutenant squinted. "Nope. Could be anything. Campfire?"

Maverick nodded. "That's what I thought. I'll go check it out."

The guard nodded. "Jet!" One of the guards at the clearing entrance turned, and walked over when the lieutenant waved him closer. He was an earth pony, with a brown coat and a Royal Guards typical blond mane "Go with this guy and check out the smoke. The Captain said we have to keep this place locked down, and we will."

"Yes sir!" Jet saluted and followed Maverick when he left the clearing. When Maverick saw him staring, he knew he wanted to ask him something.

"Yes?" he said.

"Is it true you're a royal guard from your world?" Jet asked.

"Not exactly. I fight for the queen and my country, but I'm not one of her guards. I am, however, one of the best at what I do. What about you? How long have you been a royal guard?"

"I've wanted to be a Royal Guard ever since I saw the Guards Parade in Canterlot, back when I was a foal. It's not bad, but I've never guarded the princesses directly."

"Like me."

"Like you. The pays not bad, and I get to go all over Equestria, but nothing much happens. This is the most exciting thing that's happened since I signed up 4 years ago."

"You're a lieutenant, though. What did you do to get promoted?"

"Nothing too special. I helped some high up ponies in Canterlot when they lost a bag, and they recommended my promotion to the Captain. He's a good stallion, Barehoof. He's done a lot of work, and even guarded Princess Celestia for a time, and-"

Maverick cut him off: they were getting near the smoke, which had grown in intensity. "That doesn't look good. Come on!" he set off at a run, with Jet close behind. They realised there was an apple orchard to their left, and the normal forest to their right. As they reached the smoke, they saw it coming from the windows of a tree-house.

They heard shouting.

"Oh Celestia, there's fillies in there!" Jet shouted.

"Somepony, help!" Maverick recognised the voice as Sweetie Belle. He put a hand over his eyes and squinted, and saw the three small ponies standing on top of the smoking tree-house.