An Airliner in Equestriaby TopGunBronyChaptersA New SpellUnplanned LandingIntroductionsPassenger Stories: Part 1Passenger Stories: Part 2A New SpellMarch 18, 2013 5:45 AM EDT John F. Kennedy International Airport New York City United Airlines flight 7893, a Boeing 747-400 bound for Rome, Italy, was taxiing towards runway 13L, guided in the early morning dark by the runway lights. The 404 passengers on board were headed out for a vacation abroad. After getting takeoff clearance, the jumbo jet's quadruple General Electric CF6-80C2B5F engines revved up to full power, creating a deafening roar as the 747 began rolling down the runway. One of the passengers, a twenty-four year-old man named Robert stared out the window as the jet picked up speed. He had always wanted to go to Italy and see the Roman Colosseum. He felt his stomach sink slightly as the aircraft got airborne. He continued to watch as the bright lights of the city grew smaller, until they were replaced by the darkness of the light-less ocean, lit only by the frequent flashes of the plane's wingtip strobe lights. Once he could no longer see anything, he sat back and fell asleep. That same day 7:45AM, local time Ponyville, Equestria Twilight Sparkle had just woken up in her library home less than an hour after dawn. That previous night, she had been studying a spell that could be used to travel around using portals to go between places quickly. She sat up and stretched with a yawn before getting out of bed and waking up her assistant, Spike. “Mmmm, just a few more minutes...” Spike said sleepily. “Come on, Spike, today's the day that I'm going to test the portal spell!” Twilight said. “Really? OK, I'll be down in a few minutes.” Spike replied as he stretched his scaly arms and let out a long yawn. Satisfied with this, Twilight went downstairs and began making breakfast. After she was done, she and Spike talked about Twilight's planned test. “So...how are you gonna do this?” Spike asked. “Well, Rainbow Dash said she wanted to try flying through a portal, so I was thinking of doing one up near her house.” Twilight replied. “Wow, I'll be she'll enjoy that!” Spike replied. “Yeah, and after that, I'll test one on the ground and see how it works from there.” Twilight replied. They finished eating and Twilight got outside and headed towards Rainbow's cloud house, ready to test the spell. She looked up at a spot about fifty yards from the cloud home and, after reading her notes one more time, began. Her horn began glowing with a purple aura as she focused on the spot, the glow getting increasingly brighter. Suddenly, a bright purple beam shot out from Twilight's horn and into the sky. The beam went up and formed a large circle of light at about five thousand feet above the ground. “Whoa!” Spike said as he looked up in awe at the portal that Twilight had just made. Twilight thought. What they didn't know was that things were about to get even more interesting. Unplanned Landing7:51AM 1,100 miles east of the US east coast 34,000 feet AGL Robert and the other passengers on board Flight 7893 were asleep, the aircraft having reached its cruising altitude roughly an hour and a half ago. Breakfast was to be served in less than forty minutes. In the cockpit of the huge airliner, the pilot, Captain John Mitchell and his co-pilot, First Officer Rick Mason were calm and relaxed as they monitored the instruments as they kept the plane on course. They had received no storm warnings, and the skies were mostly cloudy. After ten minutes, they noticed a mass of dark clouds ahead of them, which they thought looked like developing storm clouds. Sure enough, the air traffic controller came on the radio. “United Seven-Eight-Niner-Three Heavy, New York Center, we just received Doppler radar data on a developing storm approximately twenty miles ahead of your position, looks too large to divert around, advise you maintain current heading and climb and maintain flight level three-six thousand feet to overfly the storm, over.” the controller said. “Maintain current heading and climb and maintain flight level three-six thousand feet to avoid developing storm, United Seven-Eight-Niner-Three Heavy.” John replied, acknowledging the controller's instructions. John then turned the altitude hold dial on the autopilot control panel to put the aircraft at 36,000 feet. The plane then began climbing, its trim tabs being automatically adjusted by the autopilot system to maintain a steady climb rate. John then flipped a switch just behind the throttle quadrant to turn on the seatbelt sign, which turned on with a distinct 'ping'. “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your first officer speaking, we have just been informed that we will be experiencing some turbulence here shortly and for that reason, the captain has just turned on the fasten seatbelts sign. We ask that you remain in your seats with your seatbelts fastened and seat backs in the fully upright and locked position until the captain turns off the fasten seatbelts sign, thank you.” Rick said to the passengers over the intercom. All at once, the passengers who were in the lavatories hurried to their seats and fastened their seatbelts upon their return, the flight attendants doing the same. The other passengers were awakened by the copilot's announcement and got ready for the bumpy ride ahead. Twenty minutes later, the plane entered the newly-developed storm, lightning flashes visible in the clouds below. “Wow, that is quite an awesome sight!” Rick said. “Yeah, it i-whoa!” John replied as the plane jolted from the first patch of turbulence. Just then, Rick spotted a purple glow ahead of them. John also spotted this and they both looked at it in awe and curiosity. “What is that?” John asked. “I have no idea, thunder sprite, perhaps?” Rick asked. “Nah, those are usually a lot bigger, last for less than a second, and they're usually blue and red.” John replied. Suddenly, the purple glow grew bigger and turned from purple to white as it grew intensely brighter, to the point at which the three-man cockpit crew was forced to shield their eyes. “CRAP!” John exclaimed as he turned his head away and threw his arms over his eyes. Several seconds later, the light faded and the crew removed their arms from in front of their eyes. They looked around and noticed that the sky around them was now sunny and clear. “Hm, that was weird, I wonder whaAAT THE HELL?!” John exclaimed as he looked down at the instrument panel. “What is it?” Rick asked. “The...the navigation system's out!” John said, pointing to the navigation display. Rick looked and noticed that the display was blank, except for the heading, which was now at 156. He then looked at the primary flight display and became even more confused. “Not just that, look at our altitude!” he said. John did and was surprise to see that their altitude was only 5,000 feet. “Hm, that doesn't make sense, everything was working well when we took off.” he said. “Hm, maybe we should turn...back...to.....New......York?” John said, his voice trailing off as he stared out the windscreen. “What is i-oh, my.” Rick said as he looked out and saw what John was seeing, instead of the thick clouds of the storm over the North Atlantic they were flying over just minutes ago, they were now flying over a large forest. Looking around, they saw a deep gorge to their right, and to their left, in the distance, they saw what looked like a huge castle on the side of a tall mountain. “Wh-where ARE we?” Rick asked, bewildered by their situation. “I have no clue, but what I do know is that we're not where we should be.” John replied, his voice also filled with confusion. “New York Center, United Seven-Eight-Niner-Three Heavy declaring an emergency!” John said. Nothing but static was heard. He tried three more times, but the result was the same. “Dammit!” John exclaimed. “Maybe we can find somewhere to land and get some help figuring this out.” Rick suggested. “Good idea, but I don't see any airports around here, do you?” John asked. “No, and the nav system's out, so there's no sure way to tell.” Rick replied. Robert and some of the other passengers looked out the window, confused by what they saw. Robert thought as he checked his watch, noticing that only ten minutes had passed since he fell asleep again. He looked and saw a large white castle on the side of a huge mountain. “Wow, that looks beautiful!” Robert said as he got out his camera and took a picture. Just after he put his camera away, he saw something that truly confused him. A cyan-blue...flying horse!? had flown up next to the airliner, positioning itself just above the wing, just outside Robert's window. The Pegasus, which had a mane and tail that were colored like a rainbow, turned its head and looked at him as if with great curiosity. Robert stared wide-eyed for a second and, got his camera back out to take a picture. He figured by the look of her rounded snout that the Pegasus was a mare. Robert became even more baffled when the Pegasus...posed?...just before Robert pressed the shutter release. Robert looked at the screen in surprise at the picture that was taken. The Pegasus had apparently positioned herself as if she was relaxing on a lawn chair or hammock, her head facing forward. She also had turned her face towards him and flashed a silly grin, winking just as the picture was taken. Robert lowered the camera and saw that the flying mare had gotten closer, close enough for him to see a red, yellow and blue-striped lightning bolt under a cloud on her flank. Robert thought as he looked on. Robert saw her...giggling?...apparently at his reaction. He then gasped in surprise when the Pegasus waved her fore-hoof back and forth. In a friendly gesture, Robert waved back and watched as the Pegasus turned and flew off, headed in the direction that they had flown from. Robert thought with a sigh as he laid back in his seat. The other passengers on the same side of the plane had also seen this and taken pictures, and most had also waved at the Pegasus after she did. Meanwhile, in Ponyville... Twilight watched in amazement as the portal flashed into a white light. She heard a loud roar and looked up to see a huge machine with wings fly out of it. She noticed four blue round objects on the wings, two per wing, and what looked like smaller wings on the back end. She watched as the behemoth flew on, headed over the Everfree Forest towards Appaloosa. Twilight thought as she had Spike take a letter. As Spike wrote, she saw Rainbow Dash flying towards the machine at high speed, astonished that something so huge could even fly to begin with. “What was that?” she wondered out loud. Meanwhile, 5,000 feet above the Everfree forest Rainbow Dash had been flying over the area when she heard a loud roar coming from Ponyville. She flew towards the noise and saw a large white and blue machine that appeared to have wings fly past her at high speed. She decided to follow it and check it out. She noticed a pair of blue round objects hanging from each wing and that the body had a hump in the front of it. She flew in closer, marveled at the speed at which this thing was flying, considering its size. She noticed that the sides had a row of windows running down the entire length with five doors spaced evenly along the entire length, plus another row above it on the hump with one door in the middle. She also saw the word 'UNITED' in thick, bold letters just below the upper row of windows next to a logo that looked like a fancy red and blue 'U', just behind a set of large windows that looked like the place where this machine was controlled. She closed in even further, positioning herself above the left wing while looking through one of the windows at the interior of this strange machine. She noticed that the inside was filled with rows of seats, and in these seats were strange, hairless beings that apparently wore clothes. She saw one of the males that was sitting next to the window she was looking in lower what looked like a camera and look right at her. He stared at her with wide eyes for a few seconds before the camera was brought up again. Rainbow then had an idea, and positioned herself so that she looked like she was relaxing in a bed or on a cloud. Ready for my close-up! Rainbow thought as she put a smug grin on her face and winked, just as the camera's flash went off. She giggled at the being's shocked reaction. Rainbow thought as she inched herself closer and waved a fore-hoof. She smiled as the being brought up his arm and waved back. Rainbow thought as she turned away and flew back towards Ponyville. As she did, she got a look at the large vertical fin at the end, which was blue and had the same logo, but in a gray color. Minutes later, the forest that the plane was flying over had ended and they were now flying over a smooth desert. “Hmm, this terrain seems pretty flat, don't you think?” Rick asked. “Yeah, it looks like we might be able to land on it.” John replied. “Yeah, and there's a town nearby, maybe we can ask the locals for help.” Rick added. “Good thinking, let's do it! There's even a railroad line leading to it that we can use as a guide!” John replied. Rick then announced this plan to the passengers as John began preparing the aircraft for landing. He began descending as he reduced airspeed to 190kts and began slowly lowering the flaps using the lever on the right side of the throttle quadrant. He overflew the town and circled around to the edge of the large open plains. He turned towards the town again at 1,000 feet and reached for a large lever on the center of the instrument panel, pulling it out and down to lower the landing gear. He then set the autobrake system to MAX and armed the spoilers. John skillfully guided the plane on an approach to a spot near the edge of the flat area. At 176kts, the main gear touched down, throwing sand up into the air behind it. John didn't use the thrust reversers for long, for he knew that on this type of terrain, the sand and rocks could be thrown up by the engines. The plane finally came to a stop 50 yards from the town, which was just to the right. “Whew...well, we made it!” John said as he shut the engines down. “Yeah...we did!” Rick replied. Meanwhile, Sandra, one of the flight attendants, opened the door and looked around. She saw a crowd of what looked like colorful horses, some wearing western outfits, gathering around the aircraft. She froze in astonishment and curiosity when they all looked up at her. She noticed that some of them had horns, which meant that they were unicorns, and some others appeared to have wings, and thus, must have been Pegasi. “Y'all OK up there?” she heard one say, which amazed her even more. “Y-yeah, we just need a way to get down from here!” she shouted back. Sandra thought. “Don't you worry none, we'll get somethin' ta git ya down quick!” the same pony yelled back. Five minutes later, the same crowd of ponies began moving hay bales into a stack just below the aircraft's main exit door. What really puzzled Sandra was the fact that they were floating into place, surrounded by a colored glow. When she noticed that the unicorns next to the stack had a similar glow on their horns, she realized that they were using their horns to float the hay bales into place, apparently with some kind of magic. “Kate, come check this out!” Sandra called out. Kate came over and peaked her head out next to Sandra. “Wow, what are they doing?” she asked. “They're making a set of stairs or something out of those hay bales that we can use to climb down.” Sandra replied. “Wow, this is definitely the craziest flight I've been on.” Kate said. “Yeah, you said it, girl!” Sandra replied. Over the next few minutes, the stack became a sort of makeshift stairway, and eventually, the final bale was placed on top, the top just a couple of inches from the bottom of the doorway. “OK, y'all should be able to climb down now!” the same pony from earlier called up. “OK, just so you know, there's over four hundred of us on board this aircraft!” Sandra replied. Kate then turned her attention to the curious passengers. “OK, everyone, the locals here have just stacked a pile of hay bales for us to use to climb out, so I want everyone to be careful on the way down.” she announced. Everyone began unfastening their seatbelts and got up out of their seats as they prepared to disembark. Robert thought as he got up and followed his fellow passengers towards the exit. Everyone left their luggage where it was since they didn't know the extent of the situation. Slowly, but surely, they carefully climbed down the stack of hay bales, the kids among them being helped by their parents. After five minutes, everyone was on the ground. Needless to say, everyone was confused as to how they ended up here after they had been flying over the North Atlantic just minutes earlier, having left New York just a few hours before that. Introductions“Well, howdy, y'all! Mah name's Braeburn! Ah'm curious, what exactly are y'all?” Braeburn, a stallion with a yellow coat and orange mane and tail, wearing a brown hat and vest, asked. “Well...uh, we're humans, and it's, well, it's nice to meet you, Braeburn.” Sandra replied. Sandra thought. Just then, a train passed by on the nearby tracks, stopping at the station in town. As the train passed, a cyan pony flew out towards the crowd. Robert saw her and recognized her rainbow mane and tail instantly. “Hey, I remember you, I saw you earlier as we were still in the air!” Robert said as the Pegasus landed near him. “Yep, You should have seen the look on your face after I posed for that photo, it was hilarious!” she said. Robert thought. “My name's Robert, what's yours?” Robert asked. “Mine's Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in Equestria!” Rainbow replied proudly. “Equestria? Is that where we are right now?” Kate asked, having overheard them. “Yep, specifically, yer right next to Appaloosa, just an hour's train ride from Ponyville!” Braeburn replied. Meanwhile, John and Rick were talking with the sheriff of the town, who introduced himself as Silver Star. “How exactly does this thing fly, anyway?” he asked, pointing a hoof at the 747. “Well, these things under the wings propel the aircraft, producing the speed needed to get it off the ground and keep it airborne. The big thing is that it needs a lot of room to build up the necessary speed for takeoff, which is what runways are for.” John replied. “What's a runway?” Silver Star asked. “It's a long strip of pavement, usually about a mile long, used specifically for aircraft to take off or land on.” Rick replied. Just then, five more ponies came over from the town and joined the crowd, accompanied by a short purple creature that appeared to be a small dragon. One of them was a lavender unicorn with a purple mane and tail that had a pink and indigo streak down the length of both. Another was an orange earth pony with blonde hair. Another was a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane and tail. The forth was a pink earth pony with a darker pink mane and tail that seemed to be bouncing along with the others. The fifth was a white unicorn with a stylish dark purple mane and tail. “Excuse me, but who's the one in charge here?” the lavender unicorn asked. John then walked over upon hearing this. “I am, I'm Captain John Mitchell, what's your name?” John asked in a friendly voice. “My name's Twilight Sparkle, it's nice to meet you, Captain.” Twilight replied. Braeburn then walked over to the orange earth pony. “Oh, Ah forgot to mention, this here's mah cousin, Applejack.” he said. “A pleasure to meet y'all!” Applejack said. “My name's Rarity, I must admit, your uniform is quite stylish, it definitely suits someone of your status.” the white unicorn said. John found himself blushing slightly upon hearing this. “Well, I'm not really that big, I just fly this plane and am responsible for its safety and that of everyone on board.” John replied. “My name's Pinkie Pie, I've never seen you before! You all don't look like ponies! Are you ponies in disguise? What are you guys? What are your names? Oh my gosh! I just realized you're all new in the area which means I get to throw you all a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party later! I love parties! Did I tell you guys that? I don't think I did. Well I absolutely LOVE parties!" Pinkie said, rather fast. Robert thought. “Actually, all the sugar I eat isn't the only reason I'm so active! It's mostly the energy I have from throwing parties!” Pinkie said. “WHAT THE...? Did you just read my mind?!” Robert asked, shocked that Pinkie seemed to have read his last thought. Robert thought. “Who's 'Psycho Mantis?” Pinkie asked, seemingly out of nowhere. This caused Robert to face-palm himself. Robert thought as he walked over to Rainbow Dash, who was staring at the jet. “My...name is...Fluttershy.” the yellow Pegasus said in a rather quiet voice. “She's...kinda shy.” Twilight explained. “...And my name's Spike.” the small dragon added. “Well, do any of you know how we got here? That last thing I saw was that we were over the North Atlantic Ocean at thirty-six thousand feet flying over a storm, and then we saw this weird purple glow, and next thing we knew, we were over a large forest at five thousand feet and we ended up landing here to find help.” Rick said. “I...I believe I know.” Twilight said. “Really, what happened?” John asked. “Well, I was experimenting with portal spells, and when I created one successfully, it must have opened an inter-dimensional gateway that brought your...plane and everyone in it here.” Twilight explained. No one wanted to believe it at first, but after everything else they saw, they ended up accepting that explanation as fact. “Wow, I might have to make it a 'Welcome to EQUESTRIA' party!” Pinkie exclaimed. The other five ponies rolled their eyes. Silver Star then walked over and told Twilight everything that John had told him. “Spike, take a letter.” Twilight told him. Spike began writing what Twilight told him and breathed a burst of green flames onto the finished scroll, which disappeared. “What was the point of that?” One passenger, Jacob Anderson, asked. “It's how we send my letters to Princess Celestia, and it's also how she sends her letters to me as well.” Twilight explained. A few minutes later, Spike tensed up and belched out a burst of green flames, a scroll appearing out of them. Spike gave it to Twilight, who opened it and read it. “What does it say?” John asked. “Princess Celestia is now aware of your situation and has decided to make a runway, as Sheriff Silver Star described it, near the castle at Canterlot so that you can fly over and then she can meet you.” Twilight replied. "How long will that take?” Robert asked, having just explained how the 747 worked to Rainbow Dash, who was next to him. “It should be ready in three days.” Twilight replied. Meanwhile, Fluttershy began interacting with the younger passengers, their parents watching in amazement at how kind she was and how good she was with kids. “Well, unfortunately, there isn't enough accommodations here in Appaloosa, but there's a hotel in Ponyville that can fit you all.” Twilight said. “Come on, y'all, the next train to Ponyville leaves in twenty minutes!” Applejack said as she and the other six, including Spike, led the 747 passengers and crew into town, and to the train station. It took several trains and a total of three hours to get everyone to Ponyville. Upon each train's arrival, the passengers were taken to the Ponyville Suites hotel, just outside of town. The larger suites were given to the families among the group, while couples and singles were given some of the smaller rooms. When everyone got settled, over two-thirds of the hotel's rooms were taken up by the new visitors. Passenger Stories: Part 1Ponyville Suites Hotel 10:13AM Robert thought as he looked around his room on the fourth floor of the hotel. It was similar to the hotels he had seen back in his home world, minus a TV or phone or radio alarm clock. He sat down on the bed and found it to be very comfortable. By now it was just past one in the afternoon. He looked out the window and was impressed by the incredible view of the town in the distance. “It may not be Rome, but it's still a nice place.” Robert thought out loud. After relaxing for twenty minutes, he decided to go out and explore. He walked out and made his way to the lobby, impressed by the fact that they did have elevators. As he made his way out, the ponies at the counter looked at him with warm smiles. He looked and smiled back before heading out the door and into the open. As he took in the sunshine, he took in a deep breath of the air and slowly exhaled. “Ah, now THAT's some fresh air!” he said as he began making his way towards the town. As he approached the town, everypony that saw him stared at him, some just giving curious glances. One mare waved at him as he passed, causing him to wave back. “Hey, you're one of the humans that just got into town, right?” a voice asked. Robert turned towards the sound and found himself face-to-face with a turquoise unicorn with golden eyes and a white mane. “Yeah, how'd you know?” Robert asked. “News travels fast around here, everypony knows about you and the other humans that came here.” the pony replied. “My name's Robert, what's yours?” Robert asked. “I'm Lyra, nice to meet you.” Lyra replied. They walked on, approaching the town square. “So, you wanna come relax at my place for a while? You seem kinda stressed out.” Lyra said. “Yeah, I kinda am. Winding up in a different world during what seemed to be a routine flight can really stress someone out.” Robert replied. “Oh, you must be talking about that huge machine you all flew in, I saw it fly over just after it went through that portal!” Lyra replied. “You saw that? I'm not too surprised, something that huge flying at that kind of height is kinda hard to miss.” Robert replied. “Well, I know just the thing to help get rid of that stress, come on!” Lyra said as she led Robert towards her house. She led him up to her bedroom and told him to take his clothes off while she gather some supplies. “Uh, why do you want me to get naked?” Robert asked, a slight blush developing on his cheeks. “You'll see.” Lyra replied as she walked out and closed the door. Robert shrugged as he began removing his clothing. Once he was nude, he sat on the bed and became lost in thought. Robert thought as he waited for Lyra to return. A minute later, Lyra came back in, causing Robert to lose his train of thought. He noticed that she was using her magic to levitate a basket next to her that contained a bottle of massage oil and several other items. “Uh, Lyra, what's going on here?” Robert asked a hint of nervousness in his voice. “Well, you said you were stressed out, so I'm gonna help you with that. Just lie on your stomach and I'll take care of the rest.” Lyra replied. Robert obeyed and Lyra squirted a bit of the massage oil onto his back. Her hooves then pressed and lifted the muscles of his back as she began, a dull ache filling his joints that were begging to be touched. Lyra gently probed these places, expertly summoning up Robert's most stressful places and relieving them with gentle but firm circular presses. “Wow Lyra. This is amazing. Mmmm.... Where did you learn this?” Robert asked with a relaxed tone followed by a sigh of pleasure. “I learned a thing or two from my close friends Aloe and Lotus...” she said proudly and sensuously. “Well, they must be experts, because they certainly taught you well.” Robert replied as he practically melted under her touch. “Enjoying yourself there?” she asked with a giggle. “Yes, definitely. You are amazing at this!” Robert replied. Lyra then moved up to his shoulders and neck. “So, what do you do for a living?” Lyra asked. “Well, I used to be in the military, and now I work with demolitions- ooo that hit the spot... Yeah... Right there....” Robert trailed off as Lyra hit a sweet spot on his shoulders. After a few more minutes, Lyra stopped. “Roll over.” she said. “Say, what now?” Robert asked, wondering if he heard her right. “Roll over, I wanna end this with style.” Lyra replied. “Okaaaay.” Robert replied as he rolled over onto his back. Without missing a beat, Lyra squirted a little bit of massage oil onto his chest and did the same thing she did to his back. Robert tensed up when her hooves began massaging his groin, causing him to get hard. “Wow, you trying to give me a 'happy ending' there, Lyra?” Robert asked, his cheeks growing redder by the second. “Well...would you like me to?” Lyra asked in a seductive tone. Robert thought as he thought of a response. One Hour later... “Well, I certainly feel a lot better, thanks!” Robert said as he finished putting his shirt on. “No problem, I always like to help others feel good.” Lyra replied. “Well, I hope to see you again sometime, bye, Lyra!” Robert said with a wave as he went out the door. “Bye, Robert!” Lyra replied as she watched him walk out. “Wow...just...wow! That was certainly an...interesting experience!” Robert thought out loud as he continued exploring the town. Just as he began approaching the town square, a cyan blur passed by him. Seconds later, Rainbow Dash landed in front of him. “Hey, Robert! How's it going?” Rainbow asked. "Great, Lyra just gave me one hell of a massage!” Robert replied. Rainbow's face began getting scrunched up as she held back some laughter. “Did she...-pfft-...give you the...-pfft-... 'happy ending'?” Rainbow asked, a few chuckles escaping from her hoof-covered mouth. “Yeah, she...did.” Robert replied. Rainbow's eyes grew wide at this, before a smug grin appeared on her face. “Niiiiiice, I'll bet you gave it to her good!” Rainbow replied, nudging him with a fore-hoof with a 'way to go, dude!' wink. “Yeah, I did!” Robert replied with a proud grin. “Well, I'm heading to Sugarcube Corner for a bit, wanna come with?” Rainbow asked. “I'm up for it, sounds good!” Robert replied as Rainbow led him to Sugarcube corner. After a two minute walk, they reached Sugarcube Corner. When they walked in, Robert recognized the pink pony at the counter instantly. “Hi, Pinkie Pie, good to see you again!” Robert said. “Hi Robert! Hi Rainbow Dash! What brings you here?” Pinkie asked in her usual excited voice. “I just brought Robert here to check the place out.” Rainbow replied. Robert looked around at the wide assortment of treats within the shop. “Here, try one of these!” Pinkie said as she brought out a tray of chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting. Robert took one and took a bite. His eyes went wide as he savored the flavor. “Wow, Pinkie, these are incredible!” Robert exclaimed. “Thanks, I made them myself!” Pinkie said. “Wow, you're certainly good at it!” Robert replied before he finished the cupcake. “So, how much do I owe you?” Robert asked. “Don't worry, this one's free!” Pinkie replied. “Well, what do you wanna see next?” Rainbow asked. “Well, I'm just kinda exploring around, so I guess I'll just keep doing that.” Robert replied. “OK, bye!” Pinkie said as Rainbow and Robert walked out. “Bye, Pinkie, and thanks again!” Robert replied as he went out the door. “Well, that was nice.” Robert said as he and Rainbow walked on. “Well, I gotta go, see ya!” Rainbow said before she took off. “Later!” Robert replied before Rainbow went out of earshot. Robert put one of the ear buds from his Ipod into his left ear and began playing his main playlist as he continued walking. Passenger Stories: Part 2Meanwhile, near the Everfree Forest... Air Marshall Jason Ramirez was walking along the edge of the forest, checking the area out. He felt slightly nervous being near a huge forest in a totally different world, but he felt safe with his standard issue SIG-Sauer P229 9mm pistol. He saw a cottage in the distance that was surrounded by various animals. He smiled at the sight, realizing that whoever lived there must be an animal caretaker. As he walked on, he heard a rustling from a nearby bush that caused him to tense up and a hand to fly onto the grip of his gun. Suddenly, he heard a loud screeching noise and before he could react, a set of golden talons wound up digging into his chest. Jason yelled in pain as he drew his pistol. He looked to find himself face-to-face with a gryphon. “W-what the fuck are YOU?!” Jason asked. “I'm Gilda the gryphon, freak! What are YOU?” Gilda asked. He thought as he struggled to bring his gun to bear on the threat. “One, I-I'm a human, a-and two, G-get off me!” Jason yelled as he fired a single shot, which went into Gilda's chest. Jason used this opportunity to force her off of him and sat up, gun still pointed at the injured gryphon. “W-what made you think that it was a good idea to attack random st-strangers from o-out of nowhere, huh? W-what, you think you're queen of this place o-or something?!” Jason asked, wincing in pain from his injuries. “Do you get some kind of-of THRILL attacking people at random? Is that it, huh? ANSWER ME, BITCH!” Jason yelled. Gilda looked at him, still maintaining a calm demeanor despite having a gunshot wound in the chest. “Well, I sure don't like the idea of the likes of YOU hanging with those l-lame-o ponies!” Gilda replied, blood still leaking out of her wound. She then got up and tried to swipe at Jason with her talons. “Bad move, feather-head!” Jason said. He fired a second shot, which went into her head, killing her. “Take that, bitch!” Jason said as he struggled to stand up. He staggered towards the cottage, losing blood by the second. Thirty seconds later, as he got close, he fell to his knees, dropping his gun as the blood loss took its toll. He looked up and saw a yellow Pegasus flying towards him. He saw her pink mane and recognized her as Fluttershy. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was Fluttershy landing near him and rushing to his side. Fluttershy was feeding Angel Bunny when she heard a loud bang coming from the forest. “What was that?” she asked as she walked outside to try and find the source of the noise. Several seconds later, she was about to go back inside when she heard a second bang. She then took off towards the sound, curious to see what could have made such a sound. Several seconds later, she saw a bipedal creature walking towards her cottage. Upon closer inspection, she realized that he was one of the humans from earlier. Her eyes widened when she saw that he was bleeding from wounds on his chest. “Oh, no! He's hurt!” she said as she flew towards him as fast as she could. She watched as he collapsed, overwhelmed by blood loss. “Hang on, I'm coming!” she said as she rushed towards him. She saw Rainbow Dash flying over head and called her down. “What's going on, Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked. “He's hurt, bad, we gotta get him to the hospital!” Fluttershy replied. “How did he get hurt?” Rainbow asked. “I don't know, but by the nature of these wounds, it looks like he was attacked.” Fluttershy replied. Just then, Applejack came up to see what was going on. “Howdy, y'all, what's going on?” she asked. “This guy's hurt, we need to get him to the hospital, pronto!” Rainbow replied. “Git him on mah back, I'll get him there right quick!” Applejack replied. Fluttershy and Rainbow helped get the unconscious man onto Applejack's back. Applejack then began galloping towards the Ponyville Urgent Care Center, careful to make sure he didn't fall off. Rainbow looked around and saw a body that looked familiar. Once she recognized the body as Gilda, she quickly put two and two together and realized that she had attacked this man. Rainbow noticed the two wounds on the corpse, one on the chest and another on her head. She then saw a strange L-shaped metal object lying a few yards away. She looked at it closely and took mental notes of its features. She realized that this must have been the weapon that the man used to defend himself from Gilda's attack, though she couldn't think of how this object could cause these wounds unless it was designed to expel some kind of projectile at high velocities. She picked up the weapon and made her way to the hospital. Meanwhile, at the Ponyville Urgent Care Center... Applejack burst into the lobby, the unconscious human still balanced on her back as she called out for help. The desk clerk quickly alerted two orderlies and they rolled out a gurney into the lobby, placing the unconscious human onto it and rolled him into the ER, quickly signaling for a doctor's attention. Seconds later, Rainbow Dash flew in, the man's weapon tucked in her fore-hooves. “What's that?” Applejack asked. “I don't exactly know, but I do know that this must be his.” Rainbow replied. Three hours later, Jason came to and after looking around, realized that he was in a hospital room. He looked and saw Fluttershy and two of her friends sitting in chairs in the hallway just outside. Upon seeing him wake up, the three walked in and stood beside the bed. “Wh-what happened?” Jason asked. “Fluttershy found you unconscious after Gilda attacked you, Applejack brought you here after she saw what was happening. Also, I believe that this...thing is yours.” Rainbow Dash replied as she got out his pistol. “That's OK, just leave it on that table there, I have no use for it, anyways.” Jason replied. Jason then looked down and saw that his chest was wrapped up in bandages. “Wow, she really did a number on me, huh?” Jason asked. “Yep, if we hadn't found ya, ya might have died!” Applejack replied. “Well..thank you, if it wasn't for you three, I would have died out there.” Jason replied with a weak smile. “Why did you have that weapon, anyways?” Fluttershy asked. “Well, I'm an Air Marshall, basically, my job is to protect the plane and the passengers and crew from people that might try to hijack it.” Jason explained. “Oh, so you're like a security guard, of sorts.” Rainbow replied. “Pretty much.” Jason replied. "What's your name?" Fluttershy asked. "I'm Jason Ramirez, but you can just call me Jason." Jason replied. Just then, the doctor trotted in through the double doors. The earth pony stallion’s dark-blue fur was covered by a white coat, and the stethoscope around his neck held his well-aged, gray mane pressed down against his neck. His flank was mostly exposed, and his coat was cut short to reveal a cutie mark of a stethoscope. “Hello, everypony, I am Doctor Goodheart. I’m the lead doctor of the team currently taking care of your...rather unique friend. I know that this incident is a shock for you all, but I do have some good news: sir, you did lose quite a bit of blood from your wounds, but luckily, their friend Twilight Sparkle was able to get a hold of one of the other humans who just happened to be quite a medical expert. She was able to keep you stable and even brought some blood packs from the machine you all flew in. The procedure of getting the blood into your system was successful and you should be able to check out in a couple of days.” he said in a kind voice. “Also, that gryphon that attacked you, she was rather well-known for causing trouble. This wasn't the first time she caused trouble around here, although her reason for attacking you is a mystery, maybe she just wanted to make herself seem all 'tough' or something like that.” he added. “Figures.” Jason replied. “Just keep getting some rest and you should be just fine.” the doctor added as he left. “You have any family here, Jason?” Fluttershy asked. “Just my wife, Maria; here's a picture of her.” Jason replied as he got out a picture of his wife. “I'll go get her and let her know that you're here.” Rainbow said as she took the picture and left. Back in Ponyville, Rainbow flew around and spotted the woman she was looking for. She came down and landed nearby. “Maria Ramirez?” she asked. “Yes.” the woman replied. “Your husband Jason's in the hospital, something's happened to him.” Rainbow said. “What, is he alright?” Maria asked, her voice filled with worry. “He's fine, he's just recovering now.” Rainbow replied. Rainbow had Maria get on her back and took off. Maria held on for dear life as Rainbow flew her to the hospital. Two minutes later, Rainbow landed in front of the hospital and Maria immediately hopped off and the two ran inside. Jason's eyes lit up when he saw Maria come in. “Jason, what happened?!” Maria asked when she came in and hugged him with a kiss, thankful that he was alright. “A stuck-up gryphon attacked me.” Jason replied. “A what?” Maria asked, confused. Rainbow Dash then explained the situation, along with Fluttershy and Applejack. “Wow, I never thought anything like that would happen to you, or anyone.” Maria said after hearing about the incident. They visited for ten more minutes before they left on the doctor's recommendation.
A New SpellMarch 18, 2013 5:45 AM EDT John F. Kennedy International Airport New York City United Airlines flight 7893, a Boeing 747-400 bound for Rome, Italy, was taxiing towards runway 13L, guided in the early morning dark by the runway lights. The 404 passengers on board were headed out for a vacation abroad. After getting takeoff clearance, the jumbo jet's quadruple General Electric CF6-80C2B5F engines revved up to full power, creating a deafening roar as the 747 began rolling down the runway. One of the passengers, a twenty-four year-old man named Robert stared out the window as the jet picked up speed. He had always wanted to go to Italy and see the Roman Colosseum. He felt his stomach sink slightly as the aircraft got airborne. He continued to watch as the bright lights of the city grew smaller, until they were replaced by the darkness of the light-less ocean, lit only by the frequent flashes of the plane's wingtip strobe lights. Once he could no longer see anything, he sat back and fell asleep. That same day 7:45AM, local time Ponyville, Equestria Twilight Sparkle had just woken up in her library home less than an hour after dawn. That previous night, she had been studying a spell that could be used to travel around using portals to go between places quickly. She sat up and stretched with a yawn before getting out of bed and waking up her assistant, Spike. “Mmmm, just a few more minutes...” Spike said sleepily. “Come on, Spike, today's the day that I'm going to test the portal spell!” Twilight said. “Really? OK, I'll be down in a few minutes.” Spike replied as he stretched his scaly arms and let out a long yawn. Satisfied with this, Twilight went downstairs and began making breakfast. After she was done, she and Spike talked about Twilight's planned test. “So...how are you gonna do this?” Spike asked. “Well, Rainbow Dash said she wanted to try flying through a portal, so I was thinking of doing one up near her house.” Twilight replied. “Wow, I'll be she'll enjoy that!” Spike replied. “Yeah, and after that, I'll test one on the ground and see how it works from there.” Twilight replied. They finished eating and Twilight got outside and headed towards Rainbow's cloud house, ready to test the spell. She looked up at a spot about fifty yards from the cloud home and, after reading her notes one more time, began. Her horn began glowing with a purple aura as she focused on the spot, the glow getting increasingly brighter. Suddenly, a bright purple beam shot out from Twilight's horn and into the sky. The beam went up and formed a large circle of light at about five thousand feet above the ground. “Whoa!” Spike said as he looked up in awe at the portal that Twilight had just made. Twilight thought. What they didn't know was that things were about to get even more interesting.
Unplanned Landing7:51AM 1,100 miles east of the US east coast 34,000 feet AGL Robert and the other passengers on board Flight 7893 were asleep, the aircraft having reached its cruising altitude roughly an hour and a half ago. Breakfast was to be served in less than forty minutes. In the cockpit of the huge airliner, the pilot, Captain John Mitchell and his co-pilot, First Officer Rick Mason were calm and relaxed as they monitored the instruments as they kept the plane on course. They had received no storm warnings, and the skies were mostly cloudy. After ten minutes, they noticed a mass of dark clouds ahead of them, which they thought looked like developing storm clouds. Sure enough, the air traffic controller came on the radio. “United Seven-Eight-Niner-Three Heavy, New York Center, we just received Doppler radar data on a developing storm approximately twenty miles ahead of your position, looks too large to divert around, advise you maintain current heading and climb and maintain flight level three-six thousand feet to overfly the storm, over.” the controller said. “Maintain current heading and climb and maintain flight level three-six thousand feet to avoid developing storm, United Seven-Eight-Niner-Three Heavy.” John replied, acknowledging the controller's instructions. John then turned the altitude hold dial on the autopilot control panel to put the aircraft at 36,000 feet. The plane then began climbing, its trim tabs being automatically adjusted by the autopilot system to maintain a steady climb rate. John then flipped a switch just behind the throttle quadrant to turn on the seatbelt sign, which turned on with a distinct 'ping'. “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your first officer speaking, we have just been informed that we will be experiencing some turbulence here shortly and for that reason, the captain has just turned on the fasten seatbelts sign. We ask that you remain in your seats with your seatbelts fastened and seat backs in the fully upright and locked position until the captain turns off the fasten seatbelts sign, thank you.” Rick said to the passengers over the intercom. All at once, the passengers who were in the lavatories hurried to their seats and fastened their seatbelts upon their return, the flight attendants doing the same. The other passengers were awakened by the copilot's announcement and got ready for the bumpy ride ahead. Twenty minutes later, the plane entered the newly-developed storm, lightning flashes visible in the clouds below. “Wow, that is quite an awesome sight!” Rick said. “Yeah, it i-whoa!” John replied as the plane jolted from the first patch of turbulence. Just then, Rick spotted a purple glow ahead of them. John also spotted this and they both looked at it in awe and curiosity. “What is that?” John asked. “I have no idea, thunder sprite, perhaps?” Rick asked. “Nah, those are usually a lot bigger, last for less than a second, and they're usually blue and red.” John replied. Suddenly, the purple glow grew bigger and turned from purple to white as it grew intensely brighter, to the point at which the three-man cockpit crew was forced to shield their eyes. “CRAP!” John exclaimed as he turned his head away and threw his arms over his eyes. Several seconds later, the light faded and the crew removed their arms from in front of their eyes. They looked around and noticed that the sky around them was now sunny and clear. “Hm, that was weird, I wonder whaAAT THE HELL?!” John exclaimed as he looked down at the instrument panel. “What is it?” Rick asked. “The...the navigation system's out!” John said, pointing to the navigation display. Rick looked and noticed that the display was blank, except for the heading, which was now at 156. He then looked at the primary flight display and became even more confused. “Not just that, look at our altitude!” he said. John did and was surprise to see that their altitude was only 5,000 feet. “Hm, that doesn't make sense, everything was working well when we took off.” he said. “Hm, maybe we should turn...back...to.....New......York?” John said, his voice trailing off as he stared out the windscreen. “What is i-oh, my.” Rick said as he looked out and saw what John was seeing, instead of the thick clouds of the storm over the North Atlantic they were flying over just minutes ago, they were now flying over a large forest. Looking around, they saw a deep gorge to their right, and to their left, in the distance, they saw what looked like a huge castle on the side of a tall mountain. “Wh-where ARE we?” Rick asked, bewildered by their situation. “I have no clue, but what I do know is that we're not where we should be.” John replied, his voice also filled with confusion. “New York Center, United Seven-Eight-Niner-Three Heavy declaring an emergency!” John said. Nothing but static was heard. He tried three more times, but the result was the same. “Dammit!” John exclaimed. “Maybe we can find somewhere to land and get some help figuring this out.” Rick suggested. “Good idea, but I don't see any airports around here, do you?” John asked. “No, and the nav system's out, so there's no sure way to tell.” Rick replied. Robert and some of the other passengers looked out the window, confused by what they saw. Robert thought as he checked his watch, noticing that only ten minutes had passed since he fell asleep again. He looked and saw a large white castle on the side of a huge mountain. “Wow, that looks beautiful!” Robert said as he got out his camera and took a picture. Just after he put his camera away, he saw something that truly confused him. A cyan-blue...flying horse!? had flown up next to the airliner, positioning itself just above the wing, just outside Robert's window. The Pegasus, which had a mane and tail that were colored like a rainbow, turned its head and looked at him as if with great curiosity. Robert stared wide-eyed for a second and, got his camera back out to take a picture. He figured by the look of her rounded snout that the Pegasus was a mare. Robert became even more baffled when the Pegasus...posed?...just before Robert pressed the shutter release. Robert looked at the screen in surprise at the picture that was taken. The Pegasus had apparently positioned herself as if she was relaxing on a lawn chair or hammock, her head facing forward. She also had turned her face towards him and flashed a silly grin, winking just as the picture was taken. Robert lowered the camera and saw that the flying mare had gotten closer, close enough for him to see a red, yellow and blue-striped lightning bolt under a cloud on her flank. Robert thought as he looked on. Robert saw her...giggling?...apparently at his reaction. He then gasped in surprise when the Pegasus waved her fore-hoof back and forth. In a friendly gesture, Robert waved back and watched as the Pegasus turned and flew off, headed in the direction that they had flown from. Robert thought with a sigh as he laid back in his seat. The other passengers on the same side of the plane had also seen this and taken pictures, and most had also waved at the Pegasus after she did. Meanwhile, in Ponyville... Twilight watched in amazement as the portal flashed into a white light. She heard a loud roar and looked up to see a huge machine with wings fly out of it. She noticed four blue round objects on the wings, two per wing, and what looked like smaller wings on the back end. She watched as the behemoth flew on, headed over the Everfree Forest towards Appaloosa. Twilight thought as she had Spike take a letter. As Spike wrote, she saw Rainbow Dash flying towards the machine at high speed, astonished that something so huge could even fly to begin with. “What was that?” she wondered out loud. Meanwhile, 5,000 feet above the Everfree forest Rainbow Dash had been flying over the area when she heard a loud roar coming from Ponyville. She flew towards the noise and saw a large white and blue machine that appeared to have wings fly past her at high speed. She decided to follow it and check it out. She noticed a pair of blue round objects hanging from each wing and that the body had a hump in the front of it. She flew in closer, marveled at the speed at which this thing was flying, considering its size. She noticed that the sides had a row of windows running down the entire length with five doors spaced evenly along the entire length, plus another row above it on the hump with one door in the middle. She also saw the word 'UNITED' in thick, bold letters just below the upper row of windows next to a logo that looked like a fancy red and blue 'U', just behind a set of large windows that looked like the place where this machine was controlled. She closed in even further, positioning herself above the left wing while looking through one of the windows at the interior of this strange machine. She noticed that the inside was filled with rows of seats, and in these seats were strange, hairless beings that apparently wore clothes. She saw one of the males that was sitting next to the window she was looking in lower what looked like a camera and look right at her. He stared at her with wide eyes for a few seconds before the camera was brought up again. Rainbow then had an idea, and positioned herself so that she looked like she was relaxing in a bed or on a cloud. Ready for my close-up! Rainbow thought as she put a smug grin on her face and winked, just as the camera's flash went off. She giggled at the being's shocked reaction. Rainbow thought as she inched herself closer and waved a fore-hoof. She smiled as the being brought up his arm and waved back. Rainbow thought as she turned away and flew back towards Ponyville. As she did, she got a look at the large vertical fin at the end, which was blue and had the same logo, but in a gray color. Minutes later, the forest that the plane was flying over had ended and they were now flying over a smooth desert. “Hmm, this terrain seems pretty flat, don't you think?” Rick asked. “Yeah, it looks like we might be able to land on it.” John replied. “Yeah, and there's a town nearby, maybe we can ask the locals for help.” Rick added. “Good thinking, let's do it! There's even a railroad line leading to it that we can use as a guide!” John replied. Rick then announced this plan to the passengers as John began preparing the aircraft for landing. He began descending as he reduced airspeed to 190kts and began slowly lowering the flaps using the lever on the right side of the throttle quadrant. He overflew the town and circled around to the edge of the large open plains. He turned towards the town again at 1,000 feet and reached for a large lever on the center of the instrument panel, pulling it out and down to lower the landing gear. He then set the autobrake system to MAX and armed the spoilers. John skillfully guided the plane on an approach to a spot near the edge of the flat area. At 176kts, the main gear touched down, throwing sand up into the air behind it. John didn't use the thrust reversers for long, for he knew that on this type of terrain, the sand and rocks could be thrown up by the engines. The plane finally came to a stop 50 yards from the town, which was just to the right. “Whew...well, we made it!” John said as he shut the engines down. “Yeah...we did!” Rick replied. Meanwhile, Sandra, one of the flight attendants, opened the door and looked around. She saw a crowd of what looked like colorful horses, some wearing western outfits, gathering around the aircraft. She froze in astonishment and curiosity when they all looked up at her. She noticed that some of them had horns, which meant that they were unicorns, and some others appeared to have wings, and thus, must have been Pegasi. “Y'all OK up there?” she heard one say, which amazed her even more. “Y-yeah, we just need a way to get down from here!” she shouted back. Sandra thought. “Don't you worry none, we'll get somethin' ta git ya down quick!” the same pony yelled back. Five minutes later, the same crowd of ponies began moving hay bales into a stack just below the aircraft's main exit door. What really puzzled Sandra was the fact that they were floating into place, surrounded by a colored glow. When she noticed that the unicorns next to the stack had a similar glow on their horns, she realized that they were using their horns to float the hay bales into place, apparently with some kind of magic. “Kate, come check this out!” Sandra called out. Kate came over and peaked her head out next to Sandra. “Wow, what are they doing?” she asked. “They're making a set of stairs or something out of those hay bales that we can use to climb down.” Sandra replied. “Wow, this is definitely the craziest flight I've been on.” Kate said. “Yeah, you said it, girl!” Sandra replied. Over the next few minutes, the stack became a sort of makeshift stairway, and eventually, the final bale was placed on top, the top just a couple of inches from the bottom of the doorway. “OK, y'all should be able to climb down now!” the same pony from earlier called up. “OK, just so you know, there's over four hundred of us on board this aircraft!” Sandra replied. Kate then turned her attention to the curious passengers. “OK, everyone, the locals here have just stacked a pile of hay bales for us to use to climb out, so I want everyone to be careful on the way down.” she announced. Everyone began unfastening their seatbelts and got up out of their seats as they prepared to disembark. Robert thought as he got up and followed his fellow passengers towards the exit. Everyone left their luggage where it was since they didn't know the extent of the situation. Slowly, but surely, they carefully climbed down the stack of hay bales, the kids among them being helped by their parents. After five minutes, everyone was on the ground. Needless to say, everyone was confused as to how they ended up here after they had been flying over the North Atlantic just minutes earlier, having left New York just a few hours before that.
Introductions“Well, howdy, y'all! Mah name's Braeburn! Ah'm curious, what exactly are y'all?” Braeburn, a stallion with a yellow coat and orange mane and tail, wearing a brown hat and vest, asked. “Well...uh, we're humans, and it's, well, it's nice to meet you, Braeburn.” Sandra replied. Sandra thought. Just then, a train passed by on the nearby tracks, stopping at the station in town. As the train passed, a cyan pony flew out towards the crowd. Robert saw her and recognized her rainbow mane and tail instantly. “Hey, I remember you, I saw you earlier as we were still in the air!” Robert said as the Pegasus landed near him. “Yep, You should have seen the look on your face after I posed for that photo, it was hilarious!” she said. Robert thought. “My name's Robert, what's yours?” Robert asked. “Mine's Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in Equestria!” Rainbow replied proudly. “Equestria? Is that where we are right now?” Kate asked, having overheard them. “Yep, specifically, yer right next to Appaloosa, just an hour's train ride from Ponyville!” Braeburn replied. Meanwhile, John and Rick were talking with the sheriff of the town, who introduced himself as Silver Star. “How exactly does this thing fly, anyway?” he asked, pointing a hoof at the 747. “Well, these things under the wings propel the aircraft, producing the speed needed to get it off the ground and keep it airborne. The big thing is that it needs a lot of room to build up the necessary speed for takeoff, which is what runways are for.” John replied. “What's a runway?” Silver Star asked. “It's a long strip of pavement, usually about a mile long, used specifically for aircraft to take off or land on.” Rick replied. Just then, five more ponies came over from the town and joined the crowd, accompanied by a short purple creature that appeared to be a small dragon. One of them was a lavender unicorn with a purple mane and tail that had a pink and indigo streak down the length of both. Another was an orange earth pony with blonde hair. Another was a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane and tail. The forth was a pink earth pony with a darker pink mane and tail that seemed to be bouncing along with the others. The fifth was a white unicorn with a stylish dark purple mane and tail. “Excuse me, but who's the one in charge here?” the lavender unicorn asked. John then walked over upon hearing this. “I am, I'm Captain John Mitchell, what's your name?” John asked in a friendly voice. “My name's Twilight Sparkle, it's nice to meet you, Captain.” Twilight replied. Braeburn then walked over to the orange earth pony. “Oh, Ah forgot to mention, this here's mah cousin, Applejack.” he said. “A pleasure to meet y'all!” Applejack said. “My name's Rarity, I must admit, your uniform is quite stylish, it definitely suits someone of your status.” the white unicorn said. John found himself blushing slightly upon hearing this. “Well, I'm not really that big, I just fly this plane and am responsible for its safety and that of everyone on board.” John replied. “My name's Pinkie Pie, I've never seen you before! You all don't look like ponies! Are you ponies in disguise? What are you guys? What are your names? Oh my gosh! I just realized you're all new in the area which means I get to throw you all a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party later! I love parties! Did I tell you guys that? I don't think I did. Well I absolutely LOVE parties!" Pinkie said, rather fast. Robert thought. “Actually, all the sugar I eat isn't the only reason I'm so active! It's mostly the energy I have from throwing parties!” Pinkie said. “WHAT THE...? Did you just read my mind?!” Robert asked, shocked that Pinkie seemed to have read his last thought. Robert thought. “Who's 'Psycho Mantis?” Pinkie asked, seemingly out of nowhere. This caused Robert to face-palm himself. Robert thought as he walked over to Rainbow Dash, who was staring at the jet. “My...name is...Fluttershy.” the yellow Pegasus said in a rather quiet voice. “She's...kinda shy.” Twilight explained. “...And my name's Spike.” the small dragon added. “Well, do any of you know how we got here? That last thing I saw was that we were over the North Atlantic Ocean at thirty-six thousand feet flying over a storm, and then we saw this weird purple glow, and next thing we knew, we were over a large forest at five thousand feet and we ended up landing here to find help.” Rick said. “I...I believe I know.” Twilight said. “Really, what happened?” John asked. “Well, I was experimenting with portal spells, and when I created one successfully, it must have opened an inter-dimensional gateway that brought your...plane and everyone in it here.” Twilight explained. No one wanted to believe it at first, but after everything else they saw, they ended up accepting that explanation as fact. “Wow, I might have to make it a 'Welcome to EQUESTRIA' party!” Pinkie exclaimed. The other five ponies rolled their eyes. Silver Star then walked over and told Twilight everything that John had told him. “Spike, take a letter.” Twilight told him. Spike began writing what Twilight told him and breathed a burst of green flames onto the finished scroll, which disappeared. “What was the point of that?” One passenger, Jacob Anderson, asked. “It's how we send my letters to Princess Celestia, and it's also how she sends her letters to me as well.” Twilight explained. A few minutes later, Spike tensed up and belched out a burst of green flames, a scroll appearing out of them. Spike gave it to Twilight, who opened it and read it. “What does it say?” John asked. “Princess Celestia is now aware of your situation and has decided to make a runway, as Sheriff Silver Star described it, near the castle at Canterlot so that you can fly over and then she can meet you.” Twilight replied. "How long will that take?” Robert asked, having just explained how the 747 worked to Rainbow Dash, who was next to him. “It should be ready in three days.” Twilight replied. Meanwhile, Fluttershy began interacting with the younger passengers, their parents watching in amazement at how kind she was and how good she was with kids. “Well, unfortunately, there isn't enough accommodations here in Appaloosa, but there's a hotel in Ponyville that can fit you all.” Twilight said. “Come on, y'all, the next train to Ponyville leaves in twenty minutes!” Applejack said as she and the other six, including Spike, led the 747 passengers and crew into town, and to the train station. It took several trains and a total of three hours to get everyone to Ponyville. Upon each train's arrival, the passengers were taken to the Ponyville Suites hotel, just outside of town. The larger suites were given to the families among the group, while couples and singles were given some of the smaller rooms. When everyone got settled, over two-thirds of the hotel's rooms were taken up by the new visitors.
Passenger Stories: Part 1Ponyville Suites Hotel 10:13AM Robert thought as he looked around his room on the fourth floor of the hotel. It was similar to the hotels he had seen back in his home world, minus a TV or phone or radio alarm clock. He sat down on the bed and found it to be very comfortable. By now it was just past one in the afternoon. He looked out the window and was impressed by the incredible view of the town in the distance. “It may not be Rome, but it's still a nice place.” Robert thought out loud. After relaxing for twenty minutes, he decided to go out and explore. He walked out and made his way to the lobby, impressed by the fact that they did have elevators. As he made his way out, the ponies at the counter looked at him with warm smiles. He looked and smiled back before heading out the door and into the open. As he took in the sunshine, he took in a deep breath of the air and slowly exhaled. “Ah, now THAT's some fresh air!” he said as he began making his way towards the town. As he approached the town, everypony that saw him stared at him, some just giving curious glances. One mare waved at him as he passed, causing him to wave back. “Hey, you're one of the humans that just got into town, right?” a voice asked. Robert turned towards the sound and found himself face-to-face with a turquoise unicorn with golden eyes and a white mane. “Yeah, how'd you know?” Robert asked. “News travels fast around here, everypony knows about you and the other humans that came here.” the pony replied. “My name's Robert, what's yours?” Robert asked. “I'm Lyra, nice to meet you.” Lyra replied. They walked on, approaching the town square. “So, you wanna come relax at my place for a while? You seem kinda stressed out.” Lyra said. “Yeah, I kinda am. Winding up in a different world during what seemed to be a routine flight can really stress someone out.” Robert replied. “Oh, you must be talking about that huge machine you all flew in, I saw it fly over just after it went through that portal!” Lyra replied. “You saw that? I'm not too surprised, something that huge flying at that kind of height is kinda hard to miss.” Robert replied. “Well, I know just the thing to help get rid of that stress, come on!” Lyra said as she led Robert towards her house. She led him up to her bedroom and told him to take his clothes off while she gather some supplies. “Uh, why do you want me to get naked?” Robert asked, a slight blush developing on his cheeks. “You'll see.” Lyra replied as she walked out and closed the door. Robert shrugged as he began removing his clothing. Once he was nude, he sat on the bed and became lost in thought. Robert thought as he waited for Lyra to return. A minute later, Lyra came back in, causing Robert to lose his train of thought. He noticed that she was using her magic to levitate a basket next to her that contained a bottle of massage oil and several other items. “Uh, Lyra, what's going on here?” Robert asked a hint of nervousness in his voice. “Well, you said you were stressed out, so I'm gonna help you with that. Just lie on your stomach and I'll take care of the rest.” Lyra replied. Robert obeyed and Lyra squirted a bit of the massage oil onto his back. Her hooves then pressed and lifted the muscles of his back as she began, a dull ache filling his joints that were begging to be touched. Lyra gently probed these places, expertly summoning up Robert's most stressful places and relieving them with gentle but firm circular presses. “Wow Lyra. This is amazing. Mmmm.... Where did you learn this?” Robert asked with a relaxed tone followed by a sigh of pleasure. “I learned a thing or two from my close friends Aloe and Lotus...” she said proudly and sensuously. “Well, they must be experts, because they certainly taught you well.” Robert replied as he practically melted under her touch. “Enjoying yourself there?” she asked with a giggle. “Yes, definitely. You are amazing at this!” Robert replied. Lyra then moved up to his shoulders and neck. “So, what do you do for a living?” Lyra asked. “Well, I used to be in the military, and now I work with demolitions- ooo that hit the spot... Yeah... Right there....” Robert trailed off as Lyra hit a sweet spot on his shoulders. After a few more minutes, Lyra stopped. “Roll over.” she said. “Say, what now?” Robert asked, wondering if he heard her right. “Roll over, I wanna end this with style.” Lyra replied. “Okaaaay.” Robert replied as he rolled over onto his back. Without missing a beat, Lyra squirted a little bit of massage oil onto his chest and did the same thing she did to his back. Robert tensed up when her hooves began massaging his groin, causing him to get hard. “Wow, you trying to give me a 'happy ending' there, Lyra?” Robert asked, his cheeks growing redder by the second. “Well...would you like me to?” Lyra asked in a seductive tone. Robert thought as he thought of a response. One Hour later... “Well, I certainly feel a lot better, thanks!” Robert said as he finished putting his shirt on. “No problem, I always like to help others feel good.” Lyra replied. “Well, I hope to see you again sometime, bye, Lyra!” Robert said with a wave as he went out the door. “Bye, Robert!” Lyra replied as she watched him walk out. “Wow...just...wow! That was certainly an...interesting experience!” Robert thought out loud as he continued exploring the town. Just as he began approaching the town square, a cyan blur passed by him. Seconds later, Rainbow Dash landed in front of him. “Hey, Robert! How's it going?” Rainbow asked. "Great, Lyra just gave me one hell of a massage!” Robert replied. Rainbow's face began getting scrunched up as she held back some laughter. “Did she...-pfft-...give you the...-pfft-... 'happy ending'?” Rainbow asked, a few chuckles escaping from her hoof-covered mouth. “Yeah, she...did.” Robert replied. Rainbow's eyes grew wide at this, before a smug grin appeared on her face. “Niiiiiice, I'll bet you gave it to her good!” Rainbow replied, nudging him with a fore-hoof with a 'way to go, dude!' wink. “Yeah, I did!” Robert replied with a proud grin. “Well, I'm heading to Sugarcube Corner for a bit, wanna come with?” Rainbow asked. “I'm up for it, sounds good!” Robert replied as Rainbow led him to Sugarcube corner. After a two minute walk, they reached Sugarcube Corner. When they walked in, Robert recognized the pink pony at the counter instantly. “Hi, Pinkie Pie, good to see you again!” Robert said. “Hi Robert! Hi Rainbow Dash! What brings you here?” Pinkie asked in her usual excited voice. “I just brought Robert here to check the place out.” Rainbow replied. Robert looked around at the wide assortment of treats within the shop. “Here, try one of these!” Pinkie said as she brought out a tray of chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting. Robert took one and took a bite. His eyes went wide as he savored the flavor. “Wow, Pinkie, these are incredible!” Robert exclaimed. “Thanks, I made them myself!” Pinkie said. “Wow, you're certainly good at it!” Robert replied before he finished the cupcake. “So, how much do I owe you?” Robert asked. “Don't worry, this one's free!” Pinkie replied. “Well, what do you wanna see next?” Rainbow asked. “Well, I'm just kinda exploring around, so I guess I'll just keep doing that.” Robert replied. “OK, bye!” Pinkie said as Rainbow and Robert walked out. “Bye, Pinkie, and thanks again!” Robert replied as he went out the door. “Well, that was nice.” Robert said as he and Rainbow walked on. “Well, I gotta go, see ya!” Rainbow said before she took off. “Later!” Robert replied before Rainbow went out of earshot. Robert put one of the ear buds from his Ipod into his left ear and began playing his main playlist as he continued walking.
Passenger Stories: Part 2Meanwhile, near the Everfree Forest... Air Marshall Jason Ramirez was walking along the edge of the forest, checking the area out. He felt slightly nervous being near a huge forest in a totally different world, but he felt safe with his standard issue SIG-Sauer P229 9mm pistol. He saw a cottage in the distance that was surrounded by various animals. He smiled at the sight, realizing that whoever lived there must be an animal caretaker. As he walked on, he heard a rustling from a nearby bush that caused him to tense up and a hand to fly onto the grip of his gun. Suddenly, he heard a loud screeching noise and before he could react, a set of golden talons wound up digging into his chest. Jason yelled in pain as he drew his pistol. He looked to find himself face-to-face with a gryphon. “W-what the fuck are YOU?!” Jason asked. “I'm Gilda the gryphon, freak! What are YOU?” Gilda asked. He thought as he struggled to bring his gun to bear on the threat. “One, I-I'm a human, a-and two, G-get off me!” Jason yelled as he fired a single shot, which went into Gilda's chest. Jason used this opportunity to force her off of him and sat up, gun still pointed at the injured gryphon. “W-what made you think that it was a good idea to attack random st-strangers from o-out of nowhere, huh? W-what, you think you're queen of this place o-or something?!” Jason asked, wincing in pain from his injuries. “Do you get some kind of-of THRILL attacking people at random? Is that it, huh? ANSWER ME, BITCH!” Jason yelled. Gilda looked at him, still maintaining a calm demeanor despite having a gunshot wound in the chest. “Well, I sure don't like the idea of the likes of YOU hanging with those l-lame-o ponies!” Gilda replied, blood still leaking out of her wound. She then got up and tried to swipe at Jason with her talons. “Bad move, feather-head!” Jason said. He fired a second shot, which went into her head, killing her. “Take that, bitch!” Jason said as he struggled to stand up. He staggered towards the cottage, losing blood by the second. Thirty seconds later, as he got close, he fell to his knees, dropping his gun as the blood loss took its toll. He looked up and saw a yellow Pegasus flying towards him. He saw her pink mane and recognized her as Fluttershy. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was Fluttershy landing near him and rushing to his side. Fluttershy was feeding Angel Bunny when she heard a loud bang coming from the forest. “What was that?” she asked as she walked outside to try and find the source of the noise. Several seconds later, she was about to go back inside when she heard a second bang. She then took off towards the sound, curious to see what could have made such a sound. Several seconds later, she saw a bipedal creature walking towards her cottage. Upon closer inspection, she realized that he was one of the humans from earlier. Her eyes widened when she saw that he was bleeding from wounds on his chest. “Oh, no! He's hurt!” she said as she flew towards him as fast as she could. She watched as he collapsed, overwhelmed by blood loss. “Hang on, I'm coming!” she said as she rushed towards him. She saw Rainbow Dash flying over head and called her down. “What's going on, Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked. “He's hurt, bad, we gotta get him to the hospital!” Fluttershy replied. “How did he get hurt?” Rainbow asked. “I don't know, but by the nature of these wounds, it looks like he was attacked.” Fluttershy replied. Just then, Applejack came up to see what was going on. “Howdy, y'all, what's going on?” she asked. “This guy's hurt, we need to get him to the hospital, pronto!” Rainbow replied. “Git him on mah back, I'll get him there right quick!” Applejack replied. Fluttershy and Rainbow helped get the unconscious man onto Applejack's back. Applejack then began galloping towards the Ponyville Urgent Care Center, careful to make sure he didn't fall off. Rainbow looked around and saw a body that looked familiar. Once she recognized the body as Gilda, she quickly put two and two together and realized that she had attacked this man. Rainbow noticed the two wounds on the corpse, one on the chest and another on her head. She then saw a strange L-shaped metal object lying a few yards away. She looked at it closely and took mental notes of its features. She realized that this must have been the weapon that the man used to defend himself from Gilda's attack, though she couldn't think of how this object could cause these wounds unless it was designed to expel some kind of projectile at high velocities. She picked up the weapon and made her way to the hospital. Meanwhile, at the Ponyville Urgent Care Center... Applejack burst into the lobby, the unconscious human still balanced on her back as she called out for help. The desk clerk quickly alerted two orderlies and they rolled out a gurney into the lobby, placing the unconscious human onto it and rolled him into the ER, quickly signaling for a doctor's attention. Seconds later, Rainbow Dash flew in, the man's weapon tucked in her fore-hooves. “What's that?” Applejack asked. “I don't exactly know, but I do know that this must be his.” Rainbow replied. Three hours later, Jason came to and after looking around, realized that he was in a hospital room. He looked and saw Fluttershy and two of her friends sitting in chairs in the hallway just outside. Upon seeing him wake up, the three walked in and stood beside the bed. “Wh-what happened?” Jason asked. “Fluttershy found you unconscious after Gilda attacked you, Applejack brought you here after she saw what was happening. Also, I believe that this...thing is yours.” Rainbow Dash replied as she got out his pistol. “That's OK, just leave it on that table there, I have no use for it, anyways.” Jason replied. Jason then looked down and saw that his chest was wrapped up in bandages. “Wow, she really did a number on me, huh?” Jason asked. “Yep, if we hadn't found ya, ya might have died!” Applejack replied. “Well..thank you, if it wasn't for you three, I would have died out there.” Jason replied with a weak smile. “Why did you have that weapon, anyways?” Fluttershy asked. “Well, I'm an Air Marshall, basically, my job is to protect the plane and the passengers and crew from people that might try to hijack it.” Jason explained. “Oh, so you're like a security guard, of sorts.” Rainbow replied. “Pretty much.” Jason replied. "What's your name?" Fluttershy asked. "I'm Jason Ramirez, but you can just call me Jason." Jason replied. Just then, the doctor trotted in through the double doors. The earth pony stallion’s dark-blue fur was covered by a white coat, and the stethoscope around his neck held his well-aged, gray mane pressed down against his neck. His flank was mostly exposed, and his coat was cut short to reveal a cutie mark of a stethoscope. “Hello, everypony, I am Doctor Goodheart. I’m the lead doctor of the team currently taking care of your...rather unique friend. I know that this incident is a shock for you all, but I do have some good news: sir, you did lose quite a bit of blood from your wounds, but luckily, their friend Twilight Sparkle was able to get a hold of one of the other humans who just happened to be quite a medical expert. She was able to keep you stable and even brought some blood packs from the machine you all flew in. The procedure of getting the blood into your system was successful and you should be able to check out in a couple of days.” he said in a kind voice. “Also, that gryphon that attacked you, she was rather well-known for causing trouble. This wasn't the first time she caused trouble around here, although her reason for attacking you is a mystery, maybe she just wanted to make herself seem all 'tough' or something like that.” he added. “Figures.” Jason replied. “Just keep getting some rest and you should be just fine.” the doctor added as he left. “You have any family here, Jason?” Fluttershy asked. “Just my wife, Maria; here's a picture of her.” Jason replied as he got out a picture of his wife. “I'll go get her and let her know that you're here.” Rainbow said as she took the picture and left. Back in Ponyville, Rainbow flew around and spotted the woman she was looking for. She came down and landed nearby. “Maria Ramirez?” she asked. “Yes.” the woman replied. “Your husband Jason's in the hospital, something's happened to him.” Rainbow said. “What, is he alright?” Maria asked, her voice filled with worry. “He's fine, he's just recovering now.” Rainbow replied. Rainbow had Maria get on her back and took off. Maria held on for dear life as Rainbow flew her to the hospital. Two minutes later, Rainbow landed in front of the hospital and Maria immediately hopped off and the two ran inside. Jason's eyes lit up when he saw Maria come in. “Jason, what happened?!” Maria asked when she came in and hugged him with a kiss, thankful that he was alright. “A stuck-up gryphon attacked me.” Jason replied. “A what?” Maria asked, confused. Rainbow Dash then explained the situation, along with Fluttershy and Applejack. “Wow, I never thought anything like that would happen to you, or anyone.” Maria said after hearing about the incident. They visited for ten more minutes before they left on the doctor's recommendation.
