Last Flight and New Horizons
I remember my first flight vividly.
I was so nervous I was shaking the entire time I was setting up. Trembling as I pulled on the cord and sent the burner flaring with flames. My stomach lurched as my balloon rose, higher and higher I went. However, as soon as I was airborne I found I wasn’t nervous anymore; I knew I was meant for the skies.
Ever since then, I have taken every opportunity I could to be in the air, lazily floating above Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres when I wasn’t transporting ponies. It was so peaceful in the air, no one to bug me and only breathtaking sights wherever I looked.
Sometimes, I wasn’t as careful with picking ‘good’ flying days.
In case you couldn’t already tell, today was one of those days.
It’s truly amazing how time can slow down, giving you a moment to reflect as you stare down your certain and impending doom.
In what seems like slow motion, I pull and bite at the ropes wrapped around my front legs, dragging me along as I hang below my balloon. Lucky me, I somehow managed to get tangled in these damn ropes when trying to jump ship, er, basket, as soon as I was mostly sure I could survive the jump when my balloon started its wild and uncontrollable descent.
I am not quick enough it seems and time helpfully speeds back up again, right before I impact the mountain that is now rapidly approaching.
I scream as my balloon collides with the mountain side, and again as my sides and back flare in pain as I am scraped along the jagged rocks and biting thorns of various weeds that stubbornly grow in unforgiving places. My heart drops as my ears zone in on a high pitched hissing sound. The same sound propane tanks make when there is a puncture. I look up and see the now loose tank heading towards the somehow still burning flame. “OH BUC-”
~~
I look upwards, mentally huffing in irritation at the bright blue sky that screamed ‘perfect flying conditions’. If only it had been that clear this morning...
The pegasus weather report was usually accurate, but I suppose I can’t be too mad at them. I still made the decision to go out, even as I felt the strong breeze and saw the threatening dark grey clouds of a storm. The report didn’t say anything about a storm in the area though, so I assumed it would be passing by, probably going to Las Pegasus for one of their yearly downpours (hey, even the desert gets rain sometimes).
It turned out the storm was on its way, and some weather ponies simply got lazy with directing it. My gaze drops to the side, sharpening into a glare at the unconscious pegasus. Lucky bastard, he’s been out cold this entire time. I feel jealous at the thought he got knocked out easily.
I lick my parched lips and return my gaze to the sky, hoping I might see any sign of a search and rescue team. A brief spark of hope lights in my chest as a pegasus does fly over, but they don’t even look down. I frown, what the hell kind of pegasus just flies by an obvious wreckage site?
Even if they didn’t see us, there is quite a bit of smoke rising from my balloon somewhere behind me. The acrid smell of burning plastic and vinyl hangs heavy in the air, but it has stopped stinging my nose when I breathe. I can’t decide yet if that's a good thing or not.
I begin to wonder if I will be found first by animals. I didn’t land in the Everfree, thank Celestia, but that didn’t make this mountainside any more safe.
What might it feel like, to be attacked and eaten by a wild animal? Would they do me the mercy of finishing me off first?
Unbidden, images of my demise at the claws of various monsters begin to flood my mind. A chimera, whose snake head would poison me with a bite before the tiger and goat heads rip me to shreds. Maybe a manticore, who would swipe me up and swallow me whole. Tartarus, maybe even a wolf pack would stumble on my sorry state and drag me away.
My ear flicks at a groan and my gaze turns to the pegasus, who seemed to be waking up. Bucking finally.
He rubs his head and slowly sits up, surveying the wreck before his gaze lands on me. He instantly pales, “Oh sweet Celestia…”
If I had any feeling of my body left I might have laughed, but as it was, all I could do was breathe and look at him. I see his eyes travel down my torn up and singed torso, glance at my rope-burned and actually burned front legs, and finally land on my twisted leg.
It wasn’t enough being slammed into the cliff face while dangling below my balloon cause some Celestia damned rope got twisted around my front legs, oh no. I had to be right there at the explosion. At least the ropes finally released their hold on me; too bad I blacked out while free falling. And then apparently broke my leg upon finally landing… Yeah, that was fun to wake up to. I guess the one good thing that happened is when the propane tanks exploded I didn’t get hit with any flaming debris, though the heat and sound wave sure hurt like hell.
Maybe lady luck was shining down on me after all, at least a little bit.
The pegasus shakily stood up, stammering as he opened his mouth and closed it. He finally seemed to find the right words, “I, I’ll be back for help. Soon. I promise.”
I slowly closed my eyes in response, not having the strength to try and tell him I was too far gone already. Slowly bleeding out for over an hour, that's a kind guesstimate, from a couple different spots will do that to ya.
I peek an eye open and he’s gone. Oh well. Probably best the poor kid didn’t see me ‘pass on’; I am sure the sight of my soon to be corpse is traumatizing enough.
Strange, how quickly one can accept their own demise. Maybe it’s because I am going into shock again? Or maybe because, deep down, I had a feeling this is how I would go out; with an incredibly stupid mistake that ended in my death. I had many dreams of my own tombstone, engraved with my hot air balloon with something like ‘may she fly with angels now’. I saw my obituary too, ‘she died doing what she loved’.
I can’t argue against that, because it's true. I loved to fly, maybe a little too much so.
I sigh softly. Maybe I’ll just stop breathing and go quietly, here one moment and gone the next. I like that thought, no more pain, just a simple release of life. It's the very least the reaper or whoeverthebuck handled these things could do for me.
I exhale again and my eyes open, almost unbidden. Strange, I don’t feel...anything. I lift my head and am left with the disturbing image of looking down at my own corpse. Huh…
To the left, a blinding light flashes, almost like the flash of a teleportation spell. Except, it doesn’t fade. I stand and let out one more bitter sigh, very well then. I turn towards the light and walk towards it, warmth slowly filling me as I get closer and closer.
I smile and press my hoof into it. My life may be over now, but it seems there is something in death after all. Neat.
Well, here’s to life, to death, and new horizons.
