Almost a month had passed since the arrival of the strange metal dragon. The event was nearly gone from Ponyville memory, but one mare held on to it. She had kept a piece of it in her cabinet. It was small, but undeniably worth keeping. Thoughts of the incident had kept her up at night, and she wondered what it could have been. I mean, metal doesn't just shape itself into something like that, especially not with glass eyes, and then start flying. Only then to crash and start leaking fire? Something must have made it. But what was it?
"Twilight, you coming down for breakfast?" asked Spike.
"No Spike, I'm fine." replied Twilight, not really listening to her assistant.
"Whatever."
Spike went back downstairs, his concern for Twilight growing. Ever since that dragon thing crashed, she's been different. She seldom came out of the library anymore, and she had read and reread every book in the library at least three times. She was looking for something, but what? The more the dragon thought about it, the more he realized that Twilight was going to overstress herself about what was probably nothing. He would have to confront her about it later.
But he wouldn't get that chance.
As the last book returned to its place on the shelf for the fifth time, Twilight was showing signs of sleep deprivation. Messed up mane, bags under her eyes, no attention span. Spike was accustomed to seeing her like this, but not to this extent. Not since the time travel incident. He hoped they wouldn't have a repeat of that event. Too bad.
"Hey Twi, you going to have breakfast today for a change?" he asked.
No response.
"Twi? You up yet?"
He went upstairs, but Twilight wasn't there. She was probably out talking to one of her friends. Maybe Spike could get a day off... Again, no such luck. As he returned downstairs, ditching his apron, his stomach cramped up, and then he belched out a scroll. Grabbing it, he began to read it.
Dear Spike,
You may be wondering where I am. I'm at the site of that crash a month ago. Bring the rest of the Pony Brigade there, I'm going to need them.
Twilight
As he set down the scroll, he knew that this wasn't going to be good.
The trio approached the clearing where the iron structure had come to a stop before. Twilight was there, placing some sort of gems around. Spike reached for one, getting a smack in the head from Big Mac.
"Ah wouldn't touch that if I were you. It looks like Twahlight's settin' up somethin' big."
Spike crossed his arms grouchily as he sat down. He still didn't know why he had to be there, he wasn't part of the brigade. Then again, he would have a better chance talking to dragons than anyone else here.
"Ok, that's all the preparations. I have an idea. This has been bothering me for a good deal of time, so I've decided to actually do something about it now. Remember the large metal thing that crashed here a month ago?" Twilight began.
Big Mac and Rainbow Dash nodded.
"Well, it's been bothering me that I have no idea what it could be. I want to try bringing it back here, so that we can maybe get some answers out of it." she finished.
"Um, Twilight, I don't think it can speak. It was just a slab of metal, anyway." Dash said.
"Well, maybe there's at least a bit of writing on it that can be of use."
There were no further objections, until Twilight was about to start casting the spell.
"Hold it Twi, it took a whole team of unicorns to get rid of this thing. How are you going to bring it back from scratch and on your own?" Rainbow asked, concerned that the exertion would cause her friend to explode.
"That's what these gems are for. By placing them here, I can use their power as a substitute for another unicorn's. I wouldn't say I'm bringing it back from scratch, either. I kind of, um... saved a piece." she answered sheepishly.
"What? Why would ya save a part o' that thing? That's just darn stupid." said Big Mac.
"Why? What damage could a piece like this one do?" defended Twilight, holding the piece in front of the stallion's face to show him.
"Hmm. Well, Ah suppose a piece like that can't do much harm."
Twilight nodded, and place the chunk of metal in the center of the gems. Horn glowing brightly, she gestured for the others to step back. She didn't know which orientation this thing would come back, she just hoped it would be in one piece. As she touched her horn to the metal, there was a flash from the gems, and then the mare felt herself falling quickly. She had no idea what was going on. This wasn't supposed to happen, not at all. But regardless, that's what occurred.
Then her hooves hit something solid. She recovered her senses, and then looked around. She was no longer in the forest with Big Mac, Spike, and Rainbow Dash, but inside the metal thing. At least, that's what she guessed. She was facing what she assumed to be the back, so she turned to look at the inside. What was there surprised her.
The entire thing was filled with a sort of artificial light, bathing everything in a yellowish glow. But the strangest thing was the ape-like creatures seated within. A couple of them were walking back and forth between the chairs, occasionally handing something to a seated creature. Twilight started forward, but was thrown to the side by a sudden jolt. As she regained her footing, a voice rang out.
"This is your captain speaking. We're encountering a small patch of turbulence, so I've switched the seatbelt sign on. Passengers are to refrain from moving about the cabin at this time."
Twilight looked around frantically for the source of the voice.
"Huh? What does that mean? Where are you?"
Then it hit her. She hadn't resummoned the thing, but rather brought herself to it in the past, before it crashed. Which meant she was on a large, flying metal dragon thing that was going to crash into the Everfree Forest. She had to warn these apes.
Running toward the front, she was blocked by one of the apes that was handing things to the seated ones. With a large cart in the way as well, Twilight just decided she'd need to wait for it to get out of the way. It moved slowly, so Twilight decided to listen in on what it was saying.
"More coffee sir? Anything for you ma'am? That'll be three seventy five." it would say, or other similar things.
Reading the labels on the cart, Twilight couldn't make out much, but she read the words "Coca-Cola", "Canada Dry", and "Sprite". She wondered what that meant. She understood "Cola", so she assumed it to be a drink. As she tried to decipher the other labels, it hit her: not one of these apes had acknowledged her presence yet. Even after her yelling out and running up the aisle.
"Excuse me, can you let me past?" she asked the ape standing in front of her.
It ignored her.
"Excuse me? Can you hear me?" Twilight asked again.
Again, no response.
"Alright, that's enough."
With a flash, Twilight teleported past the the cart, and began to walk up to the front. Reaching the complete front of the cabin, she read the sign on the back of the door.
Cockpit. Flight Crew Only
Flight crew? They were flying?
Well, what did she expect, she had seen the thing fall from the sky, after all. But to she felt the need to enter this "cockpit". She tried the door, but it wouldn't open. She tried working it with her magic, but to no avail. She would just need to break the door down. Stepping back, she braced herself to hit the door.
Instead, she sailed straight through it. Tumbling to a heap on the floor, the mare found herself looking straight at a large console covered in buttons and switches, as well as four large levers. Two apes were sitting on either side of it, and she could see through the glass eyes from before. It hit her now, they weren't eyes, but rather windows. The ape on the right turned to the other one.
"Hey, you figure we'll need to land in that shit up ahead?"
"I hope not. Suggestions?" said the other one, in a light accent similar to Applejack's.
"I say alternate, that would be safer, don't you think? Anyway, policy is no landing in storms. Still, your call."
"I think we can make this one, if there aren't any storm cells. Are there?"
"Let me check... No, not a single one. Just heavy rain. High winds, too."
"Aw... What the hell, we'll make it."
The two started to just make small talk, so Twilight stopped paying attention. She looked around the cockpit some more, but nothing really stood out. It was still a mystery to her how she wasn't limited by the physical barriers of this metal thing, aside from the walls and floor. She was about to turn and leave for the cabin when she heard the left ape speak.
"JFK Tower, this is Southwest Flight 589, we're 'bout fifty miles out. Makin' a full stop landin'. How 'bout gettin' us a runway?"
Twilight couldn't hear a response, but evidently the ape did.
"Alrighty then, you heard the lady. Line us up Mr. Dubnik."
The other one nodded and grunted a reply. Twilight could feel the thing start to tilt again, and naturally started to freak out. Surprisingly, none of the apes did. She was nearing her wits end when the tilt stopped, and they were on about a thirty degree angle. Only when they started leveling out did she regain her composure.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain again. We've begun our descent to New York, the weather outside's lookin' pretty nasty. Lots of rain, lots of wind. This'll be fun, don't you agree?" he said, and Twilight could hear his voice being broadcast in the cabin. The captain laughed a bit at the groans of displeasure from the cabin.
"Alright Dubnik, bring us... what the FUCK!"
Twilight spun around, and saw only lightning building up on the outside of the craft. She had no idea what was going on now, her spell wasn't supposed to have caused any of this. The captain said something else now, panic in his voice.
"Mayday mayday mayday, this is Southwest Flight 589, this is Southwest Flight 589, this is Southwest Flight 589. We have encountered a massive storm cell out of nowhere and are going down. Controls responding minimally. Autopilot disengaged, surfaces still unresponsive. We're gonna crash, we have no chance to recover. Position unknown, estimating 30 miles south of JFK. This is Southwest Flight 589, this is Southwest Flight 589, this is Southwest Flight 589."
Twilight wasn't sure what most of that meant, but it was obviously bad. In the cabin, she could hear others screaming. There was only one thing she could do. She hoped it would work. As the magic began to flow through her horn, another flash, identical to the one from the gems.
Staring out the windows, she saw that they were in Equestria again, since she saw Canterlot pass by to their left as they shot straight towards Ponyville. She had to stop this thing before the impact. She cast her spell, and the craft slowed rapidly. She heard a few crashes from the cabin, but she had to maintain the spell. Looking out the window, she saw the forest still approaching rapidly. She wouldn't be able to stop it in time. It was still going to crash.
She estimated ten seconds to impact. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.
Then everything went black.
To be continued...
Everything hurt.
His arms, his legs, his stomach. Everything. He was starting to wonder what had happened. It was a normal flight, but then they just... dropped. They fell to the ground, and crashed in a spectacular mess of debris, flames, and hydraulic fluids. The aircraft's wings were torn off, but still rested in more or less the same position. He wondered if anyone else had survived. Opening his eyes, he saw that he had been thrown clear of the plane. There was nothing around except for dense forest. He could hear the sounds of leaves rustling and some sort of bird singing. It was so serene.
Until you turn around and see the wreckage. What an eyesore...
Trying to stand, he found himself unable to do so. He collapsed in a flood of pain, which was only increased by the impact with the ground. He looked at his legs. His right leg appeared to be fine, but his left was obviously broken. A small shard of bone stuck through his shin, so he wasn't even going to try walking again any time soon. His arms were badly bruised, but his legs seemed to have taken most of the crash. His head was sore, but a quick check proved it wasn't bleeding. He hoped search and rescue would arrive soon.
Of course, that still meant he had a lot of time on his hands. To wait for rescue, hopefully. These bushes obscured his view somewhat, but he could still see some shapes moving about the plane. What they were, he couldn't tell exactly. But the sound of voices made him hopeful for survivors.
"Hey! Over here! Someone help me!" he called out.
Twilight's head was on fire.
Not literally, but not quite figuratively either. The high heat of her combined spell use and the plane crash left her lying in a heap on the control console, mane starting to smolder. Struggling to her feet, she noticed that something was certainly not right about this. For after a crash, that is. Looking into the cabin, Twilight saw something that surprised her.
No one was there.
Just minutes before, the passenger cabin had been filled with those ape creatures, but now there were none left. Standing, Twilight found herself able to stand, despite her injuries. Looking through the cockpit windows, she could see no one else around. Strange, she would have expected Rainbow Dash and Big Mac to still be there. She was about to try opening the doors when she could hear a voice outside. Her own.
"Really Spike? Zombies?"
"Well, what if it was?"
Twilight began to panic. Why was she hearing her own voice? And where were all the ape things? Most importantly, what had happened?
Time was running out. She could see Big Macintosh walking around to the other side of the craft. The door was hanging open, and a long slide had deployed from the side of the craft. Looking frantically around, she decided on the only logical thing she could do. Teleport.
With a flash, she dropped herself in the clearing just outside. 10 feet up over some shrubs, unfortunately. She dropped like a rock, only to be met with a pained scream.
As if the pain wasn't bad enough. Now not only did he have a broken leg, but the bone had shifted. He quickly controlled his screams, and started to bite his lip. He couldn't see anything, but there was something lying on him. He remembered seeing a flash of light above him, and then something fell on him. It wasn't too heavy, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. His vision blurred, leaving him half blind.
Controlling the pain, he tried to look at what was crushing him. He was surprised, to say the least.
A purple unicorn, a bright streak in her mane, was lying across him, and it seemed it was trying to get up. He certainly wasn't going to stop it. As much as he tried, he couldn't help but start to freak out a little. Was he hallucinating? Hopefully it was just the blood loss getting to him, there couldn't be a unicorn there, right? He began to calm himself, but for nothing. As soon as it spoke, he lost it.
"Ow, my stomach..."
"WHAT THE FUCK!"
"AAAAH!"
The unicorn jumped to its feet. Judging by the voice, he guessed it was female. As she looked at him, she quickly regained her composure.
"Um... are you hurt?"
The answer seemed so blatantly obvious that he didn't even bother to reply, he only made a "you don't say" face at her. She apparently didn't get it.
"So, that's a no? Or a yes?"
"It's a yes you fucking moron! I have a fucking bone sticking out of my fucking leg, and you ask if I'm hurt? Are you blind?!" he shouted angrily and painfully.
She seemed to be frightened by his outburst. The unicorn sank back nervously, and her horn began to glow.
"Aw shit, what are you doing? Don't hurt me, I didn't mean anything! I'm beggin' ya, I didn't mean anything by it." he was now freaking out, as anyone with any sense would.
It didn't help that she remained silent. Nor did it help when he realized that although he was talking, no sound came out. Her horn dimmed, and she brought her face really close to his.
"Point to your injuries." she said.
The man obliged, pointing to the bone sticking through his leg. To his surprise, the unicorn's horn began to glow again. As she touched it to his leg, the bone began to recede. It sank back into its place, and the flesh over it grew back together, closing the wound. The unicorn looked back at him.
"Is that all?"
The man nodded, the bruises wouldn't be a problem and his head wasn't bleeding, so why bother with that? He started to stand up, but the purple mare shoved him back to the ground.
"We can't go anywhere, not yet. I'm going to unsilence you, and you have to promise not to yell, alright?"
He nodded. Her horn glowed again, and he found his voice had returned.
"So, how exactly did you do that?" he said, his voice just above a whisper.
"Magic. What exactly is that thing over there? I've never seen anything like it before." she pointed into the clearing.
He stood up, and saw she was pointing at the plane. Of course he couldn't expect her to know this, why should she? Thinking about the best way to answer that, he turned back to her.
"Do you want the long version or the short version?" he asked.
"Short."
"It's a Boeing 777-300, a jet airplane."
"Um... what would that be? I know it flies, but why and how?"
"Now that's the long version. To make that simple, it carries people over long distances very quickly. We can cross the entire US in only five hours. Used to take almost a week by train." he always liked bragging about that to his friends, most of whom had gone into the rail system.
"What the US?" she asked.
He stood there dumbfounded for about three seconds before he realized that no shit she wouldn't know that.
"The United States. It's my home country."
"Ok. I guess we can go now, it seems that the crowd over there is quite distracted."
Looking back at the plane, he saw that indeed, a large crowd had gathered around the airplane. All horses, he noted. Why was this so familiar to him? Turning back to the unicorn, he asked her about it.
"Are all the people around here, well... horses?" he asked awkwardly.
"Ponies, to be more precise. And no, there are some gryphons, some dragons, and a few zebras."
"Whoawhoawhoa. Dragons? Seriously?" That didn't bode well for him.
"Yes. Most of them are down South for a few years before the Great Dragon Migration to the mountains just over there. But my assistant Spike is a dragon."
"Will we be meeting Spike?"
"Probably not. We're going to need to stay hidden while I try to fix all of this."
Well that's a relief. At least he didn't need to worry about being dinner. Speaking of which, he was very hungry.
"Oh, I never caught your name. What is it?" the pony asked.
"What? Oh, my name's Matheuz Dubnik."
"Interesting name. I'm Twilight Sparkle, you can just call me Twilight." she told him.
My name's interesting? Compared to 'Twilight Sparkle' it's like being named John Smith...
"Well, in that case, just call me Matt. Everyone else does anyway."
"Ok Matt, you look familiar. Give me a minute to think about that..." she replied.
I'M familiar? How is that even... ugh, I don't even care anymore. Still, I know I've heard the name Twilight Sparkle before. It's not the half-assed excuse for a book, I know that.
"That guy from the cockpit!" she exclaimed.
"Huh?" Oh, what an intelligent response.
"You were sitting on the right side of the cockpit, weren't you? You're dressed the same way as the guy who was, and you have the same name."
"Yes, I'm the first officer, co pilot, whatever you want to call it. What difference does it... TWILIGHT SPARKLE!"
Suddenly it clicked. The cartoonish forest, the purple unicorn pony, the name, it all added up now. My Little Pony, of course! All those times he had to sit through the episodes with his daughter Susan. She'd never shut up about it afterward, so it was a given that he'd be unable to forget these things. What else could he remember... Not much, he tried to drown out as much as possible. He could recall a few other names; Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy... SPIKE! Now he remembered who he was. All of a sudden he felt a lot less on edge. Now he was just getting irritated.
"Um, Matt? Why did you just yell out my name?"
"Wha... Oh, no reason. Something just clicked is all. So, where to?" he answered, trying to change the subject.
"Hmm. Well, we'd better get moving. We need to get to shelter soon. Night's falling in a few hours, and some pretty scary things can come out at night in the Everfree Forest."
"Well, let's try to salvage something from the plane first, shall we? I know there's bound to be a few things that are worth recovering."
Twilight nodded an agreement. As the last of the ponies dispersed from the wreck site, Matt made a run for it. He scrambled up the emergency slide into the cabin. The seats were all empty, which was quite disturbing to him. They had taken off with about 170 passengers and 5 flight attendants. Why were all the seats empty? The question was answered in part by the presence of blood on the back wall. The flight attendant uniforms laid in a heap on the floor, as if the people had been torn out of them and thrown through the wall.
Looking away from the gruesome sight, he saw the emergency axe on the wall and grabbed it. You can't go wrong with having tools in the wilderness. Unless they're power tools, those would be useless. Looking through the seats, he could see a few still had their belongings in them. Looking at one seat in particular, he was pleased to find his prize.
The Air Marshal's pistol.
A .38 revolver, it carried 6 rounds already loaded. There weren't any more, so he would just need to save his shots. Walking back out and jumping down the slide, he saw Twilight standing there nervously waiting for him.
"We need to hurry, I can hear some ponies coming back. Follow me closely."
Matt nodded his agreement, and began to follow her into the forest, the cloak of darkness not yet having fallen, but being just ahead. As the two ran, he hoped that the pistol he carried in his pocket wouldn't need to be fired. Hopefully that wasn't just wishful thinking.
Too bad he was wrong.
