Cataclysm

Swiftwings looked across the field at his sister. They were both about to go on a voyage, by hot air balloon, to see their grandfather. He stepped towards the balloon and stopped just at the entrance. Turning around one last time, he kissed his mother and hugged her.

"Goodbye mom." He said.

"I'm going to miss you." She told him. "Keep your sister safe."

He turned his head and looked at Windfeather, his sister.

"Of course." He said. "I love you mom."

"I love you too. Have a safe trip." She said. She backed away from the balloon. Swiftwings backed into in and closed the latch. The conductor flicked a switch with his hoof and the burner in the center lit up, and the balloon started to rise. Swiftwings looked down at his mother one last time, her rainbow mane and tail flowing gloriously in the wind, and whispered: "I'm going to miss you, mom." She launched herself up into the air and flew towards Ponyville, leaving a beautiful rainbow trail behind her.

*                   *                    *

Swiftwings got up off of the floor of the balloon. He had slept for most of the day, and they only just reached the woodlands. This was going to be a long journey.

He looked over the edge of the balloon at the ground. They were a very long way up. Not past the clouds, but nowhere near the ground.

He looked at Windfeather. She was lying on her side, her chest gently rising and falling. She was in a deep sleep. The conductor was standing in front if the balloon controls, gripping ropes in his mouth and pulling them to control steering. He seemed to know where he was going by feeling. It was like he had completed the same journey thousands of times. Swiftwings was eased by that. He knew they would be okay.

His black fur and wings rustled like leaves in the wind as the air passed by him. The brisk air felt good in his lungs, and he was peaceful. He went back to sleep.

* * *

Swiftwings awakened once again in the balloon. It was the second day of their journey to their grandfather's home, and they were still in the woods. Swiftwings angrily got up and awakened the conductor.

"Why are we stopped?" He said.

"Because, kid, I can't just run all night without sleep. If I tried to do that we'd all be dead by now. Besides, it's only another two hours. I tried to get you as far as I could."

Swiftwings didn't like it, but it was true. A pilot wouldn't be able to fly all night, especially when his craft goes as fast as a pony walking at a leisurely pace.

"Okay." He said. "Can you fire it up?"

"Sure kid. Thanks for the wake - up."

The balloon glided effortlessly for about ten minutes. Windfeather still slept in the corner, and Swiftwings watched the conductor work, unable to sleep. Suddenly, there was a small explosion.

The console blasted outward, knocking down the conductor. Swiftwings looked at the console. It was leaking oil and the flame in the burner was slowly dying.

"PLUG THE HOLE!" The conductor yelled, nursing his leg.

Swiftwings sprinted to the console and jammed his hoof in the hole. Oil sprayed all over his black coat.

"What happened?!?" He screamed.

The conductor cringed in pain. "The oil pressure! It was too late to fix it... I couldn't do anything..."

The balloon swung haphazardly, spraying oil over the peaceful ecosystem of the woods. Hooking his hoof in a rope loop, Swiftwings pulled and tried to turn. There was nothing he could do.

The balloon lunged forward, and the basket slammed into a tree. It was ripped in half, and Swiftwings watched as his sister fell in the other half of the balloon rapidly to the forest floor. The conductor was splayed out spinning in the air as he fell without anything to brace his fall. Hitting a branch, his spine snapped as he fell to the forest floor. Hearing a loud thud, Swiftwings watched the conductor's blood spray twenty feet up the tree. He was dead.

The half of the basket he was in fell rapidly towards a thick cluster of trees. He thought about flying, but the basket was falling too quickly. If he abandoned the basket he would meet the same fate as the conductor. Blood rushed to his head as he zipped towards the ground, and as he heard the sound of wood snapping, he blacked out.

*            *             *              *               *

Swiftwings woke up in a marshy part of the woods. Broken branches and pieces of basket lay scattered in the muddy water around him. He was waist deep in the water, his head barely supported by a broken branch. He raised his head out of the water and re positioned his body so he could push himself up. He walked to solid land, sucking sounds accompanying his footsteps. It was the dead of night, and he needed to find shelter.

He flexed his weakened wings and pushed himself ten feet in the air. Landing on a branch in a tree near the water, he layed on it and closed his eyes, wondering if he was going to die.

On the other side of the woods, Windfeather opened her eyes. She couldn't move her body. She was pinned down by something, but she was on her stomach, unable to turn around  and see what it was. She moved her head around and looked at her surroundings. The conductor layed in the distance, a horrible mangled mess. His still opened eyes gazed upon her, and she wished they didn't.

Her stomach rumbled and she realized how extremely hungry she was. If she didn't get out, she would die. She wildly thrashed around, trying to escape her predicament, but didn't have the strength. She cried and buried her face in a pile of leaves. Looking up, she saw a white box. It was the emergency kit, laying a foot away. She inched her hoof forward, unable to reach.

"Come on...." She said. "Come on..." She dropped her hoof and stared at the container, wiling it to come to her. She couldn't give up, this was the line between living and dying.

She jammed her face into the pile of leaves, looking for something to help her reach it. A short stick poked her in the cheek and she smiled.

"Yes."

She grabbed the stick in her mouth, and flipped her head up. The stick hit the forest floor near her hoof. She sighed with relief, knowing it worked.

She pushed the box with the stick, moving it towards her other hoof. when it was close enough, she pushed it near her head. She opened the latch with her teeth and flipped open the cover with her chin.

Food. She had food. It was a pack with a chocolate bar in it. She tore at the wrapper with her teeth, and bit into the chocolate.

She hoped her bother would come soon.

She needed him.