Pilot's Story

Chapter 21: In Times of Peace: Part 1

"Ma'am, the report, as you requested," the pegasus said as she lowered the cloth-bound folder down on the table.

“Thank you Silent Eye, you may go," Celestia said with a smile as she lifted the documents in her magic.

The other pony nodded her head and stepped backwards out of the office.

Celestia opened the cover of the folder, marveling at the fact that her ponies still used a bit of string to keep these folders closed. They were such a bother to open without magic, she thought as she opened up the folder to the cover page.

CONTROLLED DOCUMENT, UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS OR EDITING TO THIS DOCUMENT--

She sighed and lifted a teacup from her desk. Sometimes her intelligence group was overzealous with their secrecy. After all, if she couldn’t have access to a piece of information, who could?

Subject of Interest: Eva Lohengrin

Identifying Traits: Pony Of Interest(henceforth referred to as 'P.O.I.') is a light gray pegasus, apparent age of 28-32 years of age. (P.O.I. claims to be aged 53 years.) P.O.I. lacks a cutie mark, but has no other atypical/noteworthy physical traits.

P.O.I. arrived in Equestria in a machine of unknown manufacture. She identified as a “DC-3” Identification was made without interrogation nor while under duress. P.O.I. states that above machine is...

Celestia rubbed her forehead with her hoof, she knew exactly what the bulk of the file said due to the first part of it being based on Twilight’s friendship reports.

P.O.I. has been contacted by subject [redacted] on two confirmed occasions. No significant data at this time regarding their interactions.

Celestia rolled her eyes as she sipped at her tea, the intelligence ponies had given her an edited report again. Her horn glowed as she called up the counterspell to wipe all the editing from the document. Technically, what she was doing was treason, she thought. But she could pardon herself if anyone decided to say something about it. The edited blocks cleared, and she saw the name on the sheet. "Time Turner..." she said under her breath.

'So he's involved now, why doesn't that surprise me?' she thought as she turned the page.

P.O.I. Has recently made contact with two bi-pedals of unknown species. Henceforth referred to as 'T' and 'J'. T and J arrived via unknown form of self-propelled carriage. Circumstances of arrival were not directly observed by Intelligence Group, but allegedly involved a hydra and a form of non-magical weapon.

Celestia narrowed her eyes, suddenly feeling like this report, and her day, were about to become anything but pleasing. Still, she steeled herself against the inevitable with another sip of soothing tea,

Forward observers witnessed two separate engagements between P.O.I., Subject's T and J, and two spherical entities of unknown origin, at both of these encounters P.O.I. and company engaged the entities with their non-magical weapons (Observer note: the word 'gun' was used, perhaps related to cannons?) resulting in apparent neutralization of said entities. (Observer note: Entities appeared to be metal and operate on some form of electricity.)

Her eyes widened as she finished the paragraph, her teacup fell from her startled grip. The sound of porcelain shattering on the marble floor broke her from her stunned paralysis and she turned towards her office window, "Oh no."

~~

"So, what exactly does this mean? Ponies came in and killed off the Humans, then stole our interior design?" James suggested.

"Yes, I'm certain that's exactly what he's suggesting," Twilight snarked, "we came and friendshipped you all to death and then completely forgot you ever existed."

"Your brother isn't very bright is he?" Trixie asked Tommy under her breath.

"He has his moments," Tommy admitted with slight shrugging of his shoulders. "I don't think it's quite that simple," he said louder, "I don't think he's suggesting that the ponies killed us all off but... well look around? Everything is human-friendly. I think that we died... and they picked up the pieces. Given enough time another sentient species could have evolved."

"What are you saying, exactly?" Eva asked suddenly, leaning forwards.

The Doctor looked between Eva and Twilight and raised his hoof, "Twilight... What is the name of your planet?"

"Earth." Twilight answered simply, "Why?"

"Doctor, we already knew that," Eva protested, not understanding the direction he was trying to take things.

"Yes, that's right. You called it Earth too. So ask yourself: why does she know that name for this planet?" The Doctor asked with a smirk.

"Because somebody was still alive to tell them," James said suddenly, "They know the name of the planet, they have door knobs and cups with handles and shovels and forks and spoons... because somebody was still around to tell them. To teach them the language and culture."

Everyone at the table suddenly looked to the man with surprised expressions. "What? It might have taken me a minute to get there but I'm not stupid."

"Celestia." Eva said simply, "She knew exactly what I was, she knew what my plane was. She knows, but nopony else does... So who's up for a trip to Canterlot?"

"Just like that? You can't just show up in Canterlot unannounced and expect to see the princess, she's very busy and--" Twilight ranted as the door the library popped open and cut her off.

Rarity trotted through the door humming a happy tune with a package perched on her back. She cheerfully pushed the door shut with her hind leg before her eyes finally adjusted to the dimmer lighting in the room and she turned her eyes to the table, "Oh! You have company! Such... unique company..."

"Oh, Rarity!" Eva said excitedly as she jumped up from the table, "You haven't met my good friends yet!" She trotted over to the alabaster mare and gestured her hoof to the table, "That's Tommy there next to Trixie, and James over by Twilight."

Rarity's face twitched into a look of slight disgust as her eyes passed over Trixie before her original jovial smile returned. "Well it is certainly a pleasure to meet all of you!" she said with a slight bow as she lifted the package off her back and unfolded it in the air.

"Is that what I think it is?" Eva asked with a grin as the jacket floated in front of her.

Rarity beamed at the other mare's reaction, "Oh it most certainly is! It's a bit different from what I usually do but it was a very good learning experience, I learned a lot about some of the more exotic synthetics and... well just try it on, I must see you in it!"

~~

Eva stared into the mirror, her eyes scanning every inch of her form, from the tips of her ears to the bottom of her hooves. She... approved. The jacket was, for all she could tell, a very convincing synthetic leather, formed in the style of a classic bomber jacket, but with cutouts for her wings.

The cherry on top, however, was the skull cap and goggles, she decided that she looked every bit like an old biplane pilot, and she wholeheartedly approved. "Not bad... not bad at all."

Her mood was better than it had been in months, even before the crossover. Despite everything that had been going on, this one thing, the effort that went into it, the end result... It made her feel welcomed in a way that she'd be missing, in a way she hadn't even known she'd been missing.

She left the bathroom with a bounce in her step that would have been obvious even to the most oblivious of ponies.

"We'll have to start calling you Amelia."

Eva looked over at James and smiled, "Yeah, you might have a point there."

Rarity trotted in a circle around the pegasus with a grin across her face, "I must say it looks better on you than I'd ever imagined! Wonderful!"

Eva preened a bit under the attention, while Tommy peered closely at the jacket. “Hey, uh, Rarity?”

“Yes...Tom, was it?”

“That looks...really good.” He reached out, and felt the sleeve of the jacket. “It even feels softer than normal synthetic leather. How did you do it?”

At the mention of leather, Twilight looked a bit disturbed, while Trixie just looked curious.

Rarity fluttered her eyelashes a bit at the compliment, “Well, I have had some contact with the real thing-”

“Rarity! How could you?” Twilight now looked a tad ill.

Managing to make patronizing seem more like concern, Rarity waved a hoof at Twilight, “Oh come now, dear, you know the griffons and such of the world are much less averse to those sorts of materials. One must keep an open mind in the world of fashion!”

Twilight said nothing further, but looked less than convinced.

Rarity looked back to Tommy, “As for making a synthetic version, well, the material I’ve handled had a rather dull, matte finish to it, but between the feel of that, and the way light reflected off the fabric in the picture, I was able to figure something out using a cotton base, and some magically-bolstered coatings.”

“Wow.” Tommy looked at the mare with some respect, then looked thoughtful, “That’s pretty amazing work in only a few days.”

Rarity beamed, “Well, I don’t like to brag ”--Trixie’s eye twitched a bit at that--” but I am rather well known for having a certain...je ne sais quoi, when it comes to nouveaux matériaux."

“Hmm...do you have any experience with hard polymers, like plastics?”

“Oh, not too much,” she replied, casually rubbing a forehoof against the floor, “the occasional custom buttons or lightweight accessory.” She tilted her head at him, “Did you have something specific in mind...?”

He leaned forward, nodding, “On our way here, some of the components of our airplane blew out. I can probably scrounge up replacements for the inner workings, but the casings themselves got partially melted by electrical arcing. They need to be tough, insulating, and to fit pretty exact dimensions...”

“Well, it’s not my usual fare, but I could certainly take a look for you, Tom.” She smiled at him, primping her hair slightly.

“Uh, uhm, great!” He stammered, wondering why he was blushing slightly, and hoping nobody noticed. “There’s a broken relay out in our truck,” he continued, waving in that general direction.

“Mmm, lead the way!”

Tommy stood and walked to the front door, then held it open for Rarity.

The fashionista followed, then paused on the threshold and turned back to the room. “I’m so glad you like the ensemble, Eva, and it does quite striking on you. Indeed,” she smiled with just a fleeting hint of smugness, “you could even start a trend!”

Eva ducked her head at the comment, “Heh, thanks again, Rarity.”

“Ta ta~” She waved around the room, and departed.

Tommy started to follow, then glanced back at Trixie, who blinked, looked at the group left in the library, then silently slinked out the door, followed closely by the human.

Eva blinked and turned to Twilight, "did Rarity just speak French?"

Author's Note

This chapter was violently awkward, and for that I apologize. I'll try to do better in the future.

While you're at it, read this: Here