TCB - Zero Hour

Chapter 3

Applebloom walked close to her sister, looking around with wide eyed amazement as they
proceeded down the jet bridge. When they reached the door to the aircraft Applebloom looked
down through the small gap between the bridge and the skin of the aircraft, through it she could see
men on the tarmac below walking around and unhooking pipes from the aircrafts fuselage; she could
also see one of the aircrafts “Hyper-fan” engines. The engines were developed for Boeing by OHR
researchers one year after taking control from UN forces, the engines can run faster because unlike
conventional jet engines the blades of the turbines are held in place, and rotated using a semi-
frictionless material. This allows them to run at a higher RPM reducing journey times by about half.
The entire aircraft was designed after the De Havilland Comet to show both humans and ponies that
they had entered a new, glorious era for all.

Applejack and Applebloom walked to their seats overlooking the left wing and made themselves
comfortable for the 4 hour flight. Soon the last of the passengers boarded and the aircraft was
pushed back from the gate and began taxiing to the runway, Applebloom was glued to the window
watching the airport role past. Finally the aircraft came to a halt at the end of the runway and the
captain’s voice crackled over the intercom.

‘Ladies and Gentlemen/Fillies and Gentle-colts my name is Jonathan Langford and I will be your
captain onboard this United Airlines flight from Ponyville to Dallas Texas. This evening we
will be cruising at 35,000ft at a cruising speed of 590 knots. Expected journey time is 5 hours so we
should be landing at Dallas JFK Airport at 10:00pm this evening. Again on behalf of myself and the
crew I would like to welcome you onboard and wish you a pleasant flight, thank you’

After about 5 minutes the aircraft was given permission to take off and its powerful Hyper-fan
engines span up to full power, the passenger cabin was filled with a deafening roar and began
shaking as the aircraft thundered down the runway. Applejack had her eyes tightly closed as she
pressed herself into the back of the seat; she’d never experienced anything like this before. Then
there was a slight feeling of vertigo as the plane lifted from the ground and began to climb into the
gathering dusk.

‘Applejack you’ve got to see this’ Applebloom said excitedly gently shaking her sister. The orange
mare cracked an eyelid checking to make sure that they were in one piece.

‘Well I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life’ Applejack sighed looking out of the window
at the ground far below, they were approaching the cloud layer and still climbing.

‘Hey! What was that?’ Applebloom suddenly exclaimed putting a hoof to her ear, Applejack watched
her sister as she flinched again.

‘What is it?’ she asked

‘My ear just....popped’

‘Popped?’ Applejack asked confused and then her ear popped as well. The Orange mare flinched
and brought a hoof to her ear ‘Mine just did too’ she said alarmed.

An old man in the centre isle who had been listening to their conversation chuckled lightly and
smiled in their direction.

‘First time on an Airplane is it...hehe...Your ears’ll pop for a while cos of the pressure’. Both sisters
simply looked at him quizzically. ‘In order to fly at these heights the cabin has to be pressurised
to the same level as the ground, helps keep the passengers comfortable. I used to be a pilot
see..hehehe..back before they had aircraft this big’.

Soon the aircraft levelled out and all Applebloom could see out of the window was a blanket of
cloud. There was an audible bing and the illuminated seatbelt sign disappeared. A cabin attendant
approached their seats and asked if they were Applejack and Applebloom and then asked if they’d
like to come and see the cockpit.

(Canterlot)

Twilight and her friend Rarity were on their way to watch the Harthswarming eve pageant at
Canterlot Castle. Canterlot had been virtually locked down for the holiday period, the only people
allowed in were OHR personnel, people dropping off supplies and people with tickets to the
Harthswarming eve pageant. As Twilight and Rarity walked along the bridge leading to the city of
Canterlot , re-named by Cribbin to Coldwings Bridge a message came over a loud speaker.

Attention citizen. A curfew is now in effect, absolutely no unauthorized foot traffic is allowed across
Coldwings Bridge between the hours of 6:30pm and 9:00am. Any persons possessing tickets to the
Harthswarming eve pageant tonight must have their tickets prepared to show to OHR Security Forces
upon entering Canterlot City, if the authenticity of your ticket cannot be established you may be
subject to search at the discretion of the City Watch.

Twilight and Rarity joined a long queue of ponies waiting to enter Canterlot City. Soldiers walked
up and down the line asking for tickets, Twilight glared at a young blond-haired corporal who
approached them and asked Rarity to show him their tickets for the pageant. He was polite and
apologised for any inconvenience that he had caused them; then wished them a pleasant evening.

‘See Twilight their not monsters’

‘I just don’t see the need for all this fuss. Initially yea I could see the need for them to be cautious
but it’s been two years for Celestia’s sake’ Twilight said in a quiet yet aggravated voice

‘Well let’s just have a good evening and try to forget about OHR’

Although the line was long it moved quickly and Twilight and Rarity found themselves at the head
of the queue. The head of the bridge was illuminated by powerful flood lights mounted on the
battlements above the main gate and soldiers patrolled behind them, more were milling about near
the gate itself or standing around portable heaters. Twilight was beckoned forward by an OHR agent
seated inside a small wooden hut erected beside the main gate.

‘Good evening Miss Sparkle’ the man greeted her. Twilight merely nodded in return, levitating her
ticket through the window to him. The man checked the ticket and then ripped the end of it.

‘Please proceed through the main gate and head along the marked path up Celestia’s Boulevard and
past Luna’s Watch. Once you reach the Castle proceed into the Grand Hall and find your seat, if you
have any questions please ask any OHR employee once you are inside the Castle. Have a pleasent
evening’

Twilight scoffed slightly and walked to meet Rarity on the other side of the Gate.

‘Can you believe this?’ Twilight growled ‘how can they get away with this?’

‘I don’t know...but let’s not make a scene’ Rarity nuzzled Twilight

Twilight and Rarity walked along Celestia’s Boulevard towards the white washed walls of Canterlot
Castle, the moonlight making the castle appear to glow softly. As they got closer to the castle they
could see more OHR troops stationed outside the doors and patrolling around the gardens. Dear
Celestia they’re everywhere Twilight thought as she counted a surprising amount of OHR soldiers –
all of them armed – but strangely no Royal Guards.

Once they were inside however the number of OHR soldiers diminished considerably, and were
replaced by the familiar golden armour of the Royal Guard. There were still OHR personnel inside
the castle but these seemed to be agents and other administrative staff. Twilight could see the
guards eyeing them distrustfully, even though some were ponies.

‘There she is’

Princess Cadence bounded over to them

Sunshine sunshine

Ladybugs awake

Clap you’re hooves

And do a little shake

Twilight could see several of the human agents staring at them and murmuring to one another

‘Ignore them, the rest of us do’ Cadence gently placed a hoof on the lavender mare’s shoulder
noticing her discomfort.

‘Are there always this many?’ Twilight asked

‘I assume you noticed all of the soldiers outside’ Twilight nodded. ‘Sometimes I think they’d rather
replace the Royal Guard entirely’

‘Why do you let them get away with it?’

‘I don’t have a choice Twilight...if they weren’t supposed to be doing what they’re doing then I
assume the United Nations would stop them’

Suddenly there was a commotion coming from the other side of the hall. Her brother Shining
Armour emerged from a door guarded by two humans in white armour; they braced and tightened

their grip on the swords they carried until he was a good distance away. He seemed to be in a rage
over something and was attracting a lot of attention; not only from guests but also from Guards and
OHR agents aswell.

‘Oh my’ was all Cadence said

‘Prince Shining Armour...Your Majesty...please’ Shouted a gray haired human who emerged from the
door only seconds after her brother had. He weaved his way across the entrance hall towards them,
avoiding servers and guests; and apologising hurriedly when he nearly knocked the drink out fancy
pants’s hooves.

‘Please wait a moment’ he wheezed as he reached them, ‘please let me explain’

Shining armour glowered at the man who was doubled over, hands on his knees puffing to get his
breath back. Once he had recovered sufficiently he addressed Shining Armour again.

‘You must understand the director meant no disrespect to either yourself or the Royal Guard...he is
under a lot of pressure right now’

Shining armour raised an eyebrow as the man moved closer to him and continued in a low voice that
Twilight had to strain to hear.

‘I understand your point of view, truly I do. I’m not a big fan of what the director is doing either...I’ll
talk to him once he’s had a moment to cool off and see if I can get him to at least lessen the troop
presence around the Castle’

Shining armour smiled evidently pleased at the resolution

‘I would also ask to speak to you and the princess in private at the earliest possible convenience’

Shining Armour nodded and the gray haired human bowed before walking to speak to a group of
officers near the door.

‘What was all that about?’ Twilight asked her brother

‘I just had a meeting with Augustus Cribbin to discuss his plans to strengthen the garrisons in our
major cities...when I suggested giving the Guard more power he became very defensive, even
hostile’

‘Is that what all the commotion was?’

‘Yea...that man is insufferable sometimes’ Shining armour growled with a backward glance at the
door.

‘Well let’s just enjoy the evening’ Cadence said rubbing her head in Shining’s mane

He smiled and the group walked up the stairs leading to the royal booth.

(Disused observatory, outside Ponyville)

Josh was sat opposite the maroon coloured pony in the central room of the observatory. The pony
– Atom Discharge – was sat reading the contents of the brown paper file that Josh had brought with
him, the file that contained Josh’s orders regarding Atom.

Target Name (Pony): Dr Atom Discharge

Target Name (Human): Joshua Conrad David Harrison Stockly

Last Known Location: London, England, United Kingdom, Earth

Current Location: Unknown

Danger posed to current objectives: High

Danger posed to future objectives: Extreme

Current Standing Orders: Apprehend or Eliminate

Known Affiliations: Veritas Consortium

Atom looked up from the file,

‘What does this mean?’ Atom asked passing the file back to Josh

‘We’re at war Josh, no one wants to admit it but Veritas is under attack’

‘How so?’

‘About a month ago’ Josh sat forward and steepled his hands, ‘people with a connection to Veritas
began disappearing, no trace, just gone. Through some digging I managed to find out that OHR is
linked to the abductions’ Josh held up the file, ‘this proves that OHR is coming after us’.

‘I’m not part of Veritas anymore…this is your problem not mine’ Atom said standing up and walking
towards the door.

‘You think that’s going to protect you’ Josh said shaking the file ‘You’ve seen what’s in this…Cribbin
Is coming after you…regardless of what you think of Veritas, of Me, we have a common enemy here’

Josh walked up to Atom standing by the front door.

‘If we do nothing then Cribbin is going to destroy Equestria. Veritas needs you back Josh, at least
think about it’ Josh thanked Atom for the tea and left

Atom crossed the room to a small work table beside the large copper telescope; he opened a small
ornate box and stared wistfully at its contents. It was a broach with a large golden V surrounded by
stars held in a silk casket. He picked the broach up and held the cool metal in his hooves. He knew
that Josh was right; but the question that plagued him was not whether or not Veritas needed him
back, it was whether he was prepared to go back.

(BA Flight 2864, Somewhere above the Pacific Ocean)

Applejack and Applebloom entered the cockpit of the aircraft. The filly was staring around at array
of buttons, switches and displays that adorned the walls and ceiling of the cockpit. The captain that
they had met in the terminal building was sat in the left hand seat adjusting some of the dials above
his chair.

‘Wow this is amazing!’ the little filly exclaimed excitedly drawing the attention of the captain

‘Ah Applebloom is it?’ the captain beamed, his smile widening as he noticed the excited look on the
fillies face, ‘I take it your impressed’

‘I don’t understand’ Applejack said looking at the digital display screens ‘what does all this do?’

‘All of the controls in this room either control or show information about the aircraft’ Applejack
looked confused ‘let me explain’ he said drawing their attention to the airspeed indicator, ‘this
shows me how fast the aircraft is traveling…I can adjust it with this control here’ he pushed the
throttle forward and they watched the digital needle jump.

‘Wow!’ Applebloom exclaimed

‘So you can control everything from right here?’

‘That’s right my little filly’

Suddenly there was a loud bleeping sound and some text came up on the centre screen.

‘Oh’ the captain said placing his hands on the control column, ‘it appears we’ve lost the auto-pilot’

‘Is that bad?’ Applejack asked worriedly. The captain shook his head saying that they were perfectly
capable of flying the aircraft without it. Suddenly there was more bleeping and more text coming up
on the screen, the first officer began to read them out. An ever increasing list of errors began to be
reported and the captain began to become worried.

Applejack and Applebloom backed into a corner as more and more alarms began to go off, things
were very quickly spiralling out of control. The first officer was talking hurriedly to someone on the
ground when it happened. There was a loud bang and the entire aircraft rolled so far to the right
that Applejack though that they were going to turn upside down.

The pilots were red faced with effort as they stamped down on the rudder pedals desperately trying
to regain control of the stricken aircraft. The cockpit was a maelstrom of noise, there was the scream
of the engines, the scream of passengers, alarms, a computer voice calmly stating that their ‘bank
angle’ was too high, and the first officer was yelling at someone on the ground.

‘Mayday, Mayday, this is BA 2864 we have a suffered a right rudder hard-over!’

All that was mixed in with her own screams and those of her sister as the aircraft hurtled, out of
control towards the inky black waters of the Pacific Ocean far below them.

The pilot was wide eyed with terror, desperately trying to lift the nose of his plane. The first officer
let go of the controls completely and covered his face with his arms, screaming in fear. Applejack
gripped her frightened sister tightly and screwed her eyes shut; and then, they hit the water.