Rainbow Dash gently leaned on the granite bar of the Two-Headed Deer Cidery. Her right hoof lay on the countertop wrapped around a cold glass of freshly tapped apple cider. Rainbow closed her eyes and smiled softly as the scent of apples and tiny bubbles tickled the inside of her nose. She always liked coming here when she got some time to relax. It was a local craft cidery - one of those small places in a converted warehouse where it was just one spacious room with a bar and a scattered array of tables - so the cider was guaranteed to be good. Even better, its location on the south edge of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal meant it was close enough to the airport, that a fair amount of the regulars were pilots or DIA employees.
This morning, however, there were few people at the cidery as Rainbow looked up from her drink and glanced around. The two men the airport hired to watch her were there as usual. Rainbow sighed. She wasn’t allowed in Denver proper and pretty much had followers on her any time she was off airport grounds and not at her apartment. Rainbow stared into her cider mug and snorted. Her reflection in the drink wobbled as her breath created ripples in the cider. She remembered how hard she had to fight for that apartment a few months ago, even after nearly half a year of service at DIA. It may have just been a small studio, but it was way better than staying in the crashpad with the pilots, and way better than the shed they had her staying at when she started work. She grumbled at the memory. She had to fight so hard with her superiors for just a small apartment on the edge of Denver. She still couldn’t even fly into the city itself. Her contract said she was only allowed to go on the airport grounds, the Arsenal, and a small area between the Arsenal and her place. Still, it was better than nothing. The Two-Headed Deer was in her fly zone, at least. Rainbow took a sip of the cider and let her momentary anger wash away as the cider slid down her throat. Given the circumstances, Rainbow thought, she was lucky to even be here. The apartment and the cidery were just added perks.
A cold chill swept into the bar and across Rainbow’s back as the door swung open and closed. The converted warehouse didn’t have much for heating, especially on a cold day like today.
Rainbow’s ears perked up when she heard the voice of who had just walked in. “Hey there, Rainbow!” The pegasus set her mug on the counter and looked up.
“Oh, hey Aaron!” She beckoned him over with her free hoof. Aaron sat on the stool next to Rainbow. He was tall and lanky and had on a puffy beige jacket over a wrinkled white collared shirt and jeans. He ran a hand through his short black hair to brush of the snow. Rainbow flicked her wing to get the melting snow off her feathers. “Watch it, will ya?” She smirked.
“Sorry.” Aaron took one look at Rainbow’s drink and grinned. “You drinking already?”
Rainbow glared at Aaron out of the corner of her eye. “It’s non-alcoholic, idiot. I’m still working in a couple hours.” The grin softened into a sincere smile. Rainbow always took her work for the airport seriously. “You think I’d give up that sweet state pension?” She took a swig of her cider and winked.
Okay, Rainbow took her job mostly seriously.
Aaron ordered a hot pear cider and used the mug to warm his hands. Rainbow swiveled to face him. “So you working today too?”
“Yeah,” Aaron replied with the barest hint of a sigh.
“So where in the middle of nowhere does Lark Bunting got you flying to this time? Grand Island?” Rainbow chuckled.
“Worse.” Aaron rolled his eyes. “Alliance.”
Rainbow Dash laughed. “Really? They still fly out there?” Aaron nodded. Rainbow took a big gulp of her cider and noticed Aaron’s lips tightening. She put a hoof on his shoulder. “Aw, don’t worry. I know we joke about it and flying to Alliance and Farmington is no fun, but you’ll move up someday soon. You’re pretty much fresh out of college, right? You still need to work your way up.”
Aaron smiled. “Thanks Rainbow.”
“Always.”
Suddenly Rainbow’s phone vibrated on the counter. She glanced at the screen and gasped. “Oh no, I wasn’t paying attention to the time. I gotta go, duty calls!” Rainbow practically chugged the rest of her cider, put her phone in her saddlebag, and slung her saddlebag over her back.
“See ya Dash!” Aaron waved after Rainbow Dash as she became a rainbow colored blur out the door and up into the sky. Her rainbow pattern cut a streak across the light snowfall in the grey Denver morning. Aaron chuckled and shook his head as the two men ran out the door. He almost felt sorry for them. They definitely hadn’t been prepared to keep an eye on Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash stayed low in the sky as she rushed toward the airport. She was forbidden from flying above the cloud layer this close to the airport unless she had contact with the tower to avoid any potential collisions, and she was close enough that gaining much altitude was pointless anyway. She took a wide bank through the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, catching sight of a few bison. She aligned herself with Pena Boulevard as it curved east and sped toward DIA. As Rainbow flew over the cloverleaf that was the intersection of Pena and E-470, she smirked. The morning’s rush hour traffic looked awful. Rainbow thanked her wings that she wasn’t stuck on the ground for her commute. Flying made things so much easier and faster.
Rainbow turned her gaze away from the highway below and refocused her attention in front of her. She angled downward to about a hundred feet in the air. She needed to be extra careful when around the airport without her gear on. Without the heads up display on her goggles, the takeoff and landing approaches were just invisible boxes in the air. Despite how long she’d been working there, a blue pegasus was still an unexpected appearance for a lot of pilots coming into and out of Denver.
The white tent of the airport terminal looked like a snowy mountain range as she drew closer. Rainbow dipped sharply and paused hovering at the Blue Mustang statue. She grinned and gave a mock salute to the rearing sculpture. “Morning Blucifer!” The glowing red eyes, still lit up this early on a dreary day like today, stared emptily back at Rainbow. She fluttered closer and took a quick glance around and found nobody was watching her. Her grin widened. She raised a hoof and booped Blucifer’s nose. She giggled to herself and went on with her routine. Rainbow’s first stop, as always when a shift started, was her stable.
When Rainbow Dash agreed to work for the Denver airport, the city made it a priority to build a suitable accommodation where Rainbow could live and prepare for her work. The site location presented a dilemma at first, since it needed to be out of the way of any approach or takeoff paths while still being close enough to existing terminal buildings that wouldn’t stand out to a curious plane watcher with binoculars. DIA had enough conspiracies as it was, and if another one popped up that was true, who knew what would start flying around online and in the press The city and the airport finally settled on a site on the east side of the highway near the aircraft maintenance and service facilities. The smaller concrete structure looked inconspicuous next to the larger maintenance buildings.
Rainbow ducked into the stable and landed in the near center of the building. She looked around at the cramped quarters. The building was fine for getting suited up and short breaks there, but she was glad she no longer lived in the stable - “cozy” was a generous word for its size as a living quarters. Add to that the constant noise of the planes taking off and landing and off site housing was one of the first things she had tried to get after starting at DIA.
She walked over to the wall where her gear was hanging up. The bright orange flight suit hung on its hook next to the small headset. Rainbow Dash put on the headset, adjusting the microphone. The headset was specially made to fit a pony’s face, with the headband wrapping around her ears so the earpieces would fit. She flicked the switch on the headset with a hoof and a familiar faint crackle of static buzzed in her ears for a brief moment.
“Tower, this is Rainbow Dash reporting in. You guys hear me?”
There was a second of silence before a woman began speaking over the mic. “We read you RD.”
“Great. What’s on the agenda for today?” Rainbow kept listening as she grabbed her flight suit off the hook and pulled it on. The bright orange suit would provide much better visibility in Denver’s airspace than her natural blue coat. “How’s the storm, it looked pretty bad heading over.”
“Jet stream shifted north overnight, so the storm’s probably gonna stay put for the morning. We’ll have you on cloud clearing for now, should keep you busy. Clear the full property line of the airport, up to five thousand feet up. Copy that?”
Rainbow zipped up the suit and stretched her wings to make sure the wing holes were snug. She pulled the elastic facemask over her head. “Gotcha, Trish.” The headset rubbed against her cheek as she spoke, so she gave it one minor adjustment. “Putting my goggles on now then I’ll be ready to take off.”
Trish - the controller’s full name was Patricia but she went by the nickname for quick responses during work and it soon developed into a general nickname - responded. “Copy.”
Rainbow stood in front of the mirror and smirked. Back home she had always thought of clearing the sky of clouds was a boring, dead end job. But here, heh. She loved having a job that took her into the sky all day. Poor humans stuck on the ground or needing machines to get themselves in the air. Rainbow lowered her head into a pouncing stance and flapped her wings twice. She was ready to attack the day.
She slipped her goggles on and pressed a button on the right side of the frame. The goggles lit up with a blinking heads up display. The altimeter dominated the display, highlighted in a glowing digital green against the clear lenses. Green dots pinged with numbers in small boxes beside them. As they pinged they moved across the display. The bottom left corner displayed the current temperature as 36 degrees Fahrenheit, cloudy conditions with current snowfall, and a wind speed of two miles per hour out of the northwest. The bottom right corner showed a compass and a digital speedometer. Rainbow Dash’s current bearings were 270 degrees; due west, and she was naturally going 0 milers per hour.
Rainbow turned and walked to the edge of the stable door. She took one moment to appreciate the artificially heated room before she opened the door. Rainbow opened it just enough to squeeze through and dashed out so as little snow blew into the stable as possible.
She spread her wings fully and spoke into the mic. “Alright, I’m suited up. NX247RD ready for takeoff. Requesting clearance.” During her first few weeks at DIA, Rainbow didn’t like using her registration number instead of her name. The experimental aircraft designation felt a little patronizing. As the days continued though, she got used to it. Besides, with the speed the bulky airplanes could achieve and the skill of the pilots flying them, it was probably for the best that it required registration even for her.
“NX247RD, copy.” It was Patricia again. “Runways 35L and 35R are clear now, so you’re clear for takeoff.”
Almost before Patricia had finished, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and was speeding up into the air. The chilly air whistled through her wings, but the flight suit kept the bulk of her body warm and dry. Rainbow Dash rocketed up toward the low clouds. The first step was to see how high the cloud cover went. Sure she could just pull up the Doppler map on her goggles or ask the tower to check with the meteorologists. That was boring and not very fun though, and a pony’s eye view was better for getting the lay of the skies.
Rainbow Dash continued to barrel upward, beating her wings faster and faster. The gray expanse above formed a ceiling over the entire Denver metropolitan area. Drops of water condensed on Rainbow’s suit and face as she drew close to the clouds. She licked her muzzle. The droplets were fresh from evaporated Rocky Mountain snowpack. They tasted crisp and clean on her tongue. At an estimated three hundred feet from the bottom of the grey cloud layer, Rainbow made a quick scan around with her goggles. The display showed the early morning flights around the Denver airspace. They were all steady on their landing or takeoff approaches. None were especially close to her. On her path up, Rainbow made sure to avoid any active flight paths since she would be operating in the denser clouds with little direct visibility. After a few seconds, Rainbow was satisfied. She narrowed her eyes, focused intently on a patch of particularly bulbous cloud, and sent her wings into overdrive. Their beats became a steady whir and she stretched her right hoof out in front. One deep inhale and she curved straight up.
A loud crack, not quite thunder, shattered the air around Rainbow. She punched through the low clouds barreling upward. Moisture coalesced around her, hugging her fur and mane close even through her suit. It was a familiar feeling as dark grey enveloped her vision. One hundred feet. Six hundred feet. Fourteen hundred feet. The seconds passed quickly as Rainbow tore a small near vertical column through the clouds. Thirty seconds later, the grey all around Rainbow Dash suddenly broke. The sky flipped like a switch, and was now the color of Rainbow Dash’s coat only more intense. Rainbow squinted at the sudden brightness. After a few seconds, the lenses of her goggles darkened two shades to adapt and she could see properly again.
Up here above the fray of the bleak winter skies below, everything was crisp and clear. The clouds stretched out in a landscape of rolling watery hills. Off to the west, the snowy peaks of Mount Evans and Grays Peak poked up out of the cloud cover. The sky around was completely blue. Rainbow hovered a moment and took a deep breath. Inhaling the thin, dry air fully awoke Rainbow Dash as the cooling sensation of the fresh air coursed throughout her body. She took a glance back at the tunnel she had bored through the cloud cover and got to work.
Rainbow Dash started by scoping out the territory of cloud cover she was set to clear. With the clouds furthest from the runways, Rainbow could just bust patches of cloud apart with a swift kick of her back hooves. The water would either just evaporate or rain harmlessly in a brief shower. This was how Rainbow Dash spent the first hour or her shift. She flew around the edge of the designated square of the airport’s jurisdiction. The GPS in the goggles helped Rainbow track where she was and mapped out her cloud territory with meter accurate precision. It was certainly handy. In the year she worked at Denver International Airport, Rainbow grew to rely on the GPS and radar technology just as the pilots did for pinpointing her location and altitude and the layout of the ground and skies below.
The first hour of Rainbow’s shift passed uneventfully. The last patch of cloud at the northwest corner of the square evaporated with a wet poof. Rainbow Dash alighted on a cloud just outside the cookie cutter square and surveyed her work. She folded her wings and let her hooves sink into the damp, velvety surface. She could almost feel each microscopic bead of vapor on the bottom of her hooves as the surface tension hugged them. She stood for a minute watching planes rising out of and sinking beneath the cloud cover. The shimmering metal birds flew gracefully against the semicircle of the morning sun now rising over the cloud layer. Rainbow stood watching, taking a quick break just to enjoy the view. There was nothing like being able to just sit at nearly twelve thousand feet above sea level, watching the activity of the skies. Rainbow simply stood, letting the drone of the jet engines fill her ears and watching the planes. Sometimes the mundanity of her work could take away from the majesty of it all. Rainbow enjoyed taking a moment to remind herself of it. She was a pegasus, and the only one on this Earth. She was the only sentient being in this world who could do what she was doing now. Rainbow smiled as the thought lingered.
Rainbow caught sight of one plane in particular as its tail rose out of the cloud cover. The smaller twin propeller aircraft was heading north. The flight number displayed on her goggles registered immediately with Rainbow. The black Lark Bunting Airlines livery on the tail further confirmed it. It was the flight Aaron was flying today. Rainbow grinned. Aaron’s plane was only about two thousand feet away. She hopped up and sped toward the plane. She made a quick left bank and flew for half a minute in formation with the aircraft. She was just close enough to make out Aaron in the cockpit, but she stayed just far enough away to avoid getting grief from the tower. Rainbow waved, but she couldn’t tell if Aaron saw her and returned it.
She frowned. It would be so easy to flip her comms to talk to Aaron and let him know she was there. But doing so risked evidence in the flight logs and she would rather not have to deal with the tower finding out her reasons. They had her on the radar, but if she veered away now she would be able to explain it away as a surveying maneuver. Getting caught trying to signal a friend now would be a spot on both Rainbow’s and Aaron’s records, and she knew it. She sighed and banked away from Aaron’s plane as it passed out of Denver airspace. Rainbow let her head hang and sighed as she curved back down toward the cloud cover. She might as well get back to clearing clouds now anyway.
With the first step in the cloud clearing finished, Rainbow checked back in with the tower. “Tower, this is Rainbow Dash, I’ve got the outer perimeter completely clear.” Rainbow leaned over and peered down the column of space she had made in the cloud cover. 120th Avenue cut a thin black line straight below Rainbow.
“Gotcha, RD.” It was Patricia again. “Where are you right now?”
“I’m at the northwest corner,” she replied. “On top of the cloud cover right now. What’s the situation look like closer to ground?”
“Forecast says this storm’s still gonna sit here for a while,” Patricia said. “You can start clearing from that corner. Priority is going to be the northern approaches first this morning.”
“Roger,” Rainbow said. She turned around and eyed the miles wide swath of clouds she needed to clear. Rainbow decided it was best to just start with this corner and worry about the over the runway bits when she got to them. She brought up the marked corners on her goggles as reference and flew upward for speed. The best way to quickly clear massive amounts of thick cloud cover like this was to dive, building up a wake to dissipate a bigger swath or nudge a wider column of clouds out of range. It was certainly easier than moving clouds one hoofful at a time. After all, she was just one pegasus. Doing it only by hoof would take days for how much she had to clear. In that time they might as well go back to the old way and just wait for the front to blow over.
***
The day went by slowly. It usually did on days like this When Rainbow checked the weather that morning, the meteorologists reported a low pressure front sitting over the Rockies. Normally a low pressure front would drop into the plains and move east out toward Kansas pretty quickly, but a trick of the currents caused this one to spin idly, drawing in moisture.
Bad news for the mountains at the heart of the front except maybe for the ski resorts, but the clouds out over the airport were on the edge. They felt thick and fluffy in Rainbow’s hooves as she picked them up. They were easy to grip, but not so loaded with water to be too heavy to move easily. She was glad for that. With how unpredictable Colorado weather could be, Rainbow welcomed anything to make each day a little calmer. Rainbow Dash eyed the thicker clouds that continued to build up to her west over the city. It was even thicker and darker beyond foothills of the Rockies further out. The white splotches of the snow capped fourteeners were now clearly visible against the dark grey backdrop of the clouds. She bit her lower lip and glanced at the wind speed in her goggles. She hoped the storm would not move east anytime today, or if it did that it would only skirt DIA. If the full brunt of the storm hit the airport, Rainbow would definitely have to work overtime on cloud duty and snow duty. Just thinking about that job made her coat feel soggy and heavier. Rainbow’s mood and coat dampened as she kicked another cloud the size of her body off to the north.
Rainbow spent the morning hours methodically moving cloud after cloud, glancing at the storm to the west. The swirling mass of air drifted northeast at a glacial pace, but the signs were there. It looked like it was going to steer clear of the airport after all. Occasionally, she took a short rest on a fluffy perch to rest her wings and watch the jetliners passing by as they took off and landed. The mechanical beasts, wings locked into position like a pegasus in the middle of an improbable upside down glide, somehow moved with something approaching grace. Rainbow admired these whales of the air as they emerged from the sea of clouds on takeoff or gently sank into the grey abyss as they made their landing approach. Atop the highest cloud layer over the airport, the sun still shone. It felt good after the cold down below, but with the warm sensation on her back all morning, Rainbow started to yawn.
Rainbow dove down and carved out a little nook in the bottom of the remaining cloud layer about her size. She ducked up into it and sat in the cool, wet sanctuary from the sun. Even though it was a cold winter day on the ground, moving clouds around ten thousand feet up all day with the sun beating down could really heat a pony up. She lay down, crossed her forelegs at the edge of the nook and nestled her head in her hooves. Rainbow always enjoyed the view of the airport with all the runways stretching outward. And from here, she was still close enough to the ground that she had the perfect view west of the Rocky Mountains rising up from the horizon to meet the cloud level. From here she easily saw why the Rockies captivated so many people on their arrival to Denver. It was a view those who could not fly rarely got.
Rainbow’s eyes started to close as she let her gaze wander lazily. The sound of jet engines echoed as white noise and only helped her nod off. Maybe one quick nap couldn’t hurt. She had already cleared the clouds in most of the approach paths and it was only two o’clock in the afternoon.
Her nap didn’t last long before the roar of a jet engine interrupted her. Rainbow’s eyes shot open and her ears fell flat against her head. The engine’s roar, much louder than it should be, barrelled past her.
Rainbow stuck her head out of the little cloud nook and dipped down a few hundred feet. She could see the plane on its landing approach, but something was wrong. As she watched the airliner go by, the right wing tip was less than a hundred feet from her. Either Rainbow had drifted during her nap, or the plane was flying dangerously close to the edge of the designated approach path. She checked her HUD, and confirmed the flight path was off. Rainbow flapped her wings hard and dashed after the plane, tailing it close enough to get a good view of the airliner.
“Hey, tower? You keeping track of this plane?” Rainbow radioed, flying alongside the plane as it descended toward the runway. She squinted to see the aircraft registration number. “It’s a Fairchild-Dornier 328,” Rainbow read the flight number into her headset. “Feels like the plane’s coming in pretty hard.”
“Gotcha RD,” Patricia replied. There was silence for a few seconds. “Yeah we’re seeing it. Pilot’s reporting some minor hydraulic trouble, but no major issues that might affect the landing. We have a maintenance crew on hold to look at it after it lands.”
Rainbow Dash responded but kept in formation with the airliner. The 328JET was a jet conversion from the turboprop Fairchild-Dornier 328. It seated about 30 and was usually used for commuter flights from smaller airports. Rainbow recognized the black painted tail and the yellow horizontal stripe across the fuselage as the Lark Bunting Airlines livery. They flew in formation for a few minutes as Rainbow tried to get a better eye of any mechanical failures. She saw nothing noticeable. Rainbow checked her altimeter. They were at about 7300 feet altitude; just over two thousand feet above ground. Rainbow eyed the underside of the plane nervously. For Denver, that was about the altitude where the pilot should be deploying the landing gear.
Seventy-two hundred feet.
Seventy-one hundred.
Rainbow was about to radio the tower when finally, the undercarriage started to open up at just over 7,000 feet in altitude. 1,700 feet above ground level. It must have either been an inexperienced pilot, which would not be uncommon for Lark Bunting, or indeed something was messed up with the hydraulics.
The landing gear slowly emerged and descended from its housing. Rainbow Dash let one relieved sigh escape her as she kept pace with the jet, carefully eyeing the landing gear. Time seemed to slow to an excruciating pace as the gear inched its way out of the housing.
Sixty-eight hundred feet. The front gear had fully deployed and the two underbelly gear were inching downward.
Rainbow squinted. Something didn’t seem right. She.veered slightly closer and further under the jet to get a clearer look and squinted again.
“Hey, Tower? Can you get a gear check from the pilot of the flight I’m shadowing?”
“Sure, Rainbow, hold on. Something wrong?”
“Maybe. I can’t quite get a visual of the right gear position.”
The headset was silent for several seconds.
“Pilot says the gear’s fully down.” Another moment of silence passed. Rainbow strained her vision. “Not close enough for us to get a visual yet.”
Rainbow bit her lip. Sixty-five hundred feet. She wanted to move closer and get confirmation, but couldn’t. She was already as close as FAA regulations allowed, and it would be especially dangerous this far into an approach. A near miss report was the last thing Rainbow Dash wanted to go through if this was actually nothing.
Sixty-two hundred feet. A thousand feet above ground level. Rainbow maneuvered into position below and directly behind the jet for a better look. Both undercarriages should have been fully deployed by now.
Rainbow got into position, took one look, and gasped. How did she only see this now? “Tower, I’ve got a visual of the gear. There is a problem.”
“What is it?” The response from Patricia came immediately. Good, they were taking this seriously.
“The right gear is only 30% of the way down. If the plane tries to land like this, it’s going to skid.”
Rainbow’s mind went to the pilot of the plane. She remembered the Lark Bunting livery and brought up the HUD on her goggles. “Uh, Trish, who’s the pilot of this flight?”
Rainbow sucked in a breath with worry. She held it tight in her chest for the seconds it took for Patricia to reply. “It’s Aaron Tesfaye. The flight is coming in from Alliance, Nebraska.”
Rainbow instinctively surged forward toward the plane with a flurry wingbeats when she heard the name, but caught herself. Of course it was Aaron. She asked a question she already knew the answer to. “Is he going to do a go-around?”
The right move would be to abort the landing, pull the gear up, and see if the gear was working properly again on the next circuit. Rainbow knew Aaron though. She had a hunch he wasn’t going to do that. Patricia’s response confirmed her suspicion.
She gritted her teeth and momentarily covered the microphone with a hoof. “Damnit Aaron.” Rainbow couldn’t fault Aaron too much. She was the same way. Part of her wanted to see Aaron pull off this landing. He had to have practiced it in the simulators hundreds of times already. Still, if something were to go wrong…
Rainbow stared at the the undercarriage and the tilted gear. No fluid leak, that was good at least. Maybe the gear was just caught on something. A thought crossed Rainbow’s mind. If it was just stuck, she could fix it.
Rainbow looked back at the next plane in the approach pattern. She had to make a decision in the next few seconds or get out of the way. Rainbow looked back at Aaron’s plane. The flaps were up and the plane was tilting back in the final approach. No more seconds. Rainbow had to make a decision right now.
Screw it. Heroics were her specialty.
“Trish, tell Aaron I’m getting his gear down.” Before Patricia could respond, Rainbow beat her wings as hard as she could and shot forward.
The plane quickly filled her field of vision. Within seconds she was flying in formation just under the fuselage. The 328’s twin turbines drowned every other noise out.
“What the hell are you doing, Rainbow!” Aaron and Patricia shouted almost in unison in Rainbow’s ear. She could barely hear them over the roar of the engines. The hot stream of air from their wake blew at her face, but she kept pushing to get in position at the bottom of the fuselage.
“Don’t worry guys, I got this!” Rainbow yelled almost as much to hear her own voice above the racket as to make sure they heard her. The whine of the engines was almost deafening now. Rainbow folded her wings tight against her suit and slowly rolled upward and to the left while banking slightly right. Carefully and with practiced precision maneuvering, she lodged herself in the undercarriage with her shoulders on the edge of the wheel well and her back hooves on the partially extended tire. Wind whipped her mane and tail around her, streaks of all colors flashing across Rainbow’s vision. “Aaron, land as if you were in a crosswind. Left gear down first in case I don’t get the right gear all the way!”
“Roger,” Aaron’s voice cracked over the headset. He sounded shaky at first but steadied as he spoke. “Continuing to proceed on final approach on runway 19L.”
“Come onnnn,” Rainbow kicked her hooves as hard as she could but the gear refused to budge.
“Rainbow I am giving you until fifty-five hundred feet to do this or you will get out of there and Aaron’s going around again,” Patricia said sternly. Rainbow gritted her teeth.
Fifty-eight fifty feet. Four hundred feet above the runway. The grass below Rainbow Dash gave way to asphalt.
Rainbow kept kicking as hard as she could. This was one moment she wished she had the strength of an earth pony. Her leg muscles burned with the strain. She started flapping her wings to try and get every ounce of force she could muster. It didn’t matter that she was disregarding the danger of feathers flying, she was committed. She had to get that gear in place.
Fifty-seven hundred feet. Rainbow yelled through her teeth and pushed harder. With one final push she felt a thud. The gear shifted and Rainbow almost fell out from the undercarriage. She paused for a brief moment, sitting on the edge of the wheel well, watching dazed as the gear quickly deployed the rest of the way. “It’s down,” she said into the headset as sweat dripped down her muzzle into her mouth.
She could hear the sighs of relief from both Patricia and Aaron. She felt the plane tilt to the right as it levelled off.
Rainbow looked down at the ground, and back up at the plane wheel. She glanced at the altimeter on her HUD.
Fifty-five hundred feet.
Carefully, Rainbow stretched her body out, sliding her flank off the edge of the wheel well. She unfurled her wings. This was going to be tricky. She balanced herself filling the gap of the undercarriage with her front and rear hooves on either side.
“Extracting myself from the plane. Aaron, what’s your speed?”
“One hundred fifty miles per hour,” Aaron replied.
“Gotcha.”
Rainbow stiffened her wings, nudged herself forward, and let go of the wheel well.
She dropped a few feet and felt the tilt of her wings push her back to slow herself even as momentum still carried her forward. She glided down a moment until she was past the airplane’s tail, flicked her right wing slightly, and swerved to the left. Rainbow arced down skimming just a few dozen feet above the ground. Once she was clear of the plane and the runway, Rainbow took a deep breath. The smell of wet grass filled her lungs. She let the dewy breath out in a loud whoop of joy.
She flapped hard in time with her rapid heartbeat to regain height and speed until she came level with the cockpit of the jet. Rainbow Dash looked to her right. Through the window she could see Aaron glancing at her with wide eyes. His mouth hung open slightly, but his lips curled up at the corners. Aaron’s copilot also looked at her, eyes twice as wide as Aaron’s. Rainbow smirked and saluted with her right hoof. Aaron blinked, chuckled, shook his head, and returned it. Rainbow veered up and away from the aircraft.
Rainbow smiled as behind her she heard the screech as the tires of the Fairchild-Dornier 328 touch the ground. “And we are down,” came Aaron over the headset. She had heard those words over her headset from hundreds of pilots over her time at DIA. Never was the phrase more satisfying in her ears.
Rainbow banked by the tower as she headed back to her stable. She looked up at the sky still half filled with cloud cover. A fleeting thought told her to get back to work immediately. Rainbow shoved the thought away. After what had just happened, the rest of the cloud clearing could wait. She probably would have to answer to Patricia later, and there would probably be an investigation, but it was worth it. She had to do something back there. Rainbow wanted to think she would have done the same for any pilot and not just Aaron, but she knew that would be a lie. Aaron was her first friend when she started at DIA and her best friend in this world. Nearly every time Aaron was flying in or out of Denver and she was up there, she would do a quick flyby to welcome him or send him off.
Plus, Rainbow knew Aaron’s record and experience. She probably would have trusted another pilot’s judgement more on handling a partial gear up landing. But she never would have trusted another pilot more with keeping the plane steady while she was getting into and out of the undercarriage.
Rainbow landed at the stable and remembered the likely pending investigation and talk with Patricia. She frowned. After a moment of mulling it over, the frown disappeared and was replaced with a shrug and an almost giddy smile. If there was one thing, she could at least could chalk it up as the new most exciting day in her career at DIA. May Blucifer have mercy on her soul with whatever happened next.
***
The next week was a blur. The incident really drummed up a storm - something Rainbow Dash should have been used to, really - but not like this. It was initially filed as a standard near miss, but the circumstances surrounding it could not be ignored higher up the chain. Both Aaron and Rainbow Dash were put on leave for the incident while it was being investigated by the higher ups at Denver International. The Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, even City of Denver and State of Colorado government officials got involved. Only a very select few knew the reality of Rainbow Dash’s involvement with the incident and even with Denver International Airport in the first place, and there was a lot of fuss to keep it that way.
During that week, outside of the interviews about the incident, Rainbow had a lot of free time. So did Aaron. The two of them met often over that week, and it was always met at the Two-Headed Deer cidery. At the beginning of the week, they kept quiet about the day of the incident. In part it was because they were wary of bringing it up in public. There was a more personal reason too. The last time Rainbow and Aaron saw each other before what happened was that morning at the cidery. Neither Rainbow nor Aaron wanted to talk about it, bring up the what ifs of the cidery being their last meeting.
It was a Monday - nearly a week since the incident. Rainbow had quickly gotten used to sleeping in late on her administrative leave and arrived at the Two-Headed Deer around noon.
She pushed open the door and looked around. “Hey Rainbow,” Rainbow turned her head as she heard a call above the general noise of the place. Aaron was sitting at a table in the far corner of the cidery’s main space. “Over here!” He waved his hand and Rainbow trotted to him.
“What’re you doing sitting here?” Rainbow smirked as she slid into the chair opposite Aaron. “Didn’t want to sit up at the bar? We’ve only been on a break for one day.”
It was the fourth day of their leave, but only the third time they’d seen each other since the incident. They had skipped the day before. Aaron had said he’d been called to a meeting by some higher-ups in the airport officials, but wouldn’t say what it was about. He just mentioned something about filling out forms.
“Speaking of, what was yesterday about anyway?” Aaron tensed up and his lips pursed. Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “You can tell me,” she smiled. “We’ve been pretty open about the whole bureaucratic stuff. Why are you clamming up now?”
Aaron avoided Rainbow’s big violet eyes, staring off into space across the main floor of the cidery. “I-” he started.
Rainbow’s other eyebrow joined its companion. “Are you in trouble? Are we in trouble?”
“No, Rainbow,” Aaron almost snapped back. He continued staring off to Rainbow’s right. “Look, just drop it for now. I’ll talk to you when I can, but here’s maybe not the best place.”
Rainbow grumbled an assent, but conceded the point. She changed the subject.
They talked for an hour or so. During a lull in the conversation, they were interrupted by a man in a black suit suddenly appearing behind them.
“Sir, ma’am, I’m going to need you to come with me.”
Rainbow scoffed and looked the suit up and down. The man was tall with broad square shoulders. He loomed over Rainbow as she swiveled around on her stool. Rainbow narrowed her eyes and started to talk back at the man, but stopped when Aaron put a hand on her shoulder.
Aaron whispered in Rainbow’s ear, not taking an eye off the man. “This is one of the guys I was talking to yesterday.”
Rainbow’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh.” She slid off the stool.
“There’s a car waiting outside,” the man said as he turned and started walking. Rainbow and Aaron glanced at each other and hesitated, but followed him out of the Two-Headed Deer. The car was a shining black four door with tinted windows. Aaron glanced at the license plate - the car was probably government issue. The suit opened the rear door.
Rainbow was still wary. Possibilities of why both of them would be called now raced through her mind. None of them were good. Rainbow needed more information. She stopped at the open door and turned to the man as he stood between them and the sidewalk holding the rear door open. Rainbow planted her hooves on the pavement and refused to move another inch. “What’s this about?” She could see the man’s breath. If he wanted to get into the warm car, and not let more cold air in, he would have to tell them what was going on. She unfurled her wingtips slightly. If there was trouble, she could pop up into the air. Rainbow was sure her bosses would make an exception for no flying now if it was in self-defense.
The suit sighed. His mouth curled ever so slightly downward. “You’re wanted at DIA for more paperwork. Now come on, it’s getting cold.” Rainbow glanced at Aaron and flicked her tail. Aaron shook his head. He mouthed “just get in” at her from behind the suit’s back.
Rainbow sighed and got in the car.. She didn’t like being shuffled into a moving vehicle like this, especially when she had no idea what was going on. Paperwork wouldn’t require sending a car for them. But Rainbow trusted Aaron, and they did probably still have business to take care of with the incident. She would be compliant, for now anyway.
Within minutes, they were off with the suit driving. The car was silent for a few miles. Aaron contemplated the passing lane markers on the road. Rainbow stared ahead trying to bore a hole in the back of the drivers side headrest.
They turned onto Peña Boulevard. Rainbow shifted uncomfortably in the back seat. With a grimace, she finally allowed herself to glance out the window. Snow had started to fall. In the distance, through the fluffy white flakes, she could see Blucifer, a stark image of bright blue against the dark gray sky. As the mustang sculpture drew nearer, she watched the planes passing back and forth behind Blucifer. It only made her more frustrated. She wanted to be out there. She hadn’t been able to clear the skies - to do her job, to fly - in several days. Being cooped up made Rainbow Dash antsy, and being confined into such a small space as the backseat of a car made her even more so.
“Just a few more minutes,” the suit said. It was the first time he had spoken on the drive over. Rainbow glared at the man’s reflection in the rearview mirror. She could see him eyeing her. She snorted.
Aaron looked over at her. “It’ll be fine.”
Rainbow slumped against the door of the car. “I did what I had to do,” she mumbled. She stole a glance at Aaron. He nodded knowingly and smiled. Her grimace melted into a resigned frown.
Ten minutes later, Aaron, Rainbow Dash, and the man in the suit were walking down a small hallway tucked off in a corner of the DIA terminal building. Aaron looked around. He had never been through this part of the airport before, even when he had gotten bored with hours to kill between flights and just wandered around the terminal. He tried to peek through some of the doors on either side as they walked. From what he saw, most just seemed to be offices. He looked at Rainbow Dash. She at least seemed more relaxed now that they were out of the car again. She just kept looking straight ahead at the end of the hallway and dutifully followed behind the man in the suit with a vague look of recognition.
They stopped at the far end of the hallway in front of a set of elevator doors. The man turned to them. “Now, before we go further, you can’t reveal any of what you see here. You signed the non-disclosure agreement yesterday, Aaron.” Aaron nodded, suddenly a little unsure of what exactly he had signed the previous day. Everyone knew the conspiracy theories about Denver International Airport, and any number of them immediately sprang to mind. There was a secret Illuminati base underneath the terminal planning the New World Order, or it was actually a holding cell for aliens, or any number of things. Aaron’s heart jumped. Aaron glanced at Rainbow Dash as the man in the suit turned to her. “And a reminder that this is part of your employment contract, Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow nodded firmly. All the tension from the car ride had evaporated from her. The man nodded. “Good.” The elevator doors opened and the three of them stepped inside.
It was a long ride down, filled with an awkward silence. A million things were running through Aaron’s head. He knew he had to just wait and see what was going on, but his heart was racing. Rainbow shifted her weight and ruffled her wings to stretch them, but otherwise she was at ease. In fact, if Aaron didn’t know any better he would have almost thought Rainbow looked a little hopeful.
The elevator slowed and jerked to a stop. Aaron wondered what could be behind the doors. In his mind he had settled on aliens; how awesome would that be to see a real one! He glanced at Rainbow Dash beside him and felt silly. Here he had been, talking to a flying horse with a rainbow colored mane for nearly a year now, and he was getting excited over the possibility that aliens might be lying in the bowels of Denver International Airport. Maybe it was aliens, but could it really match something as fantastical as Rainbow Dash? He chuckled. Maybe all the conspiracies that floated around in the two decades since the airport’s construction were getting to him. But there was just something about it that piqued Aaron’s interest.
The elevator doors opened. Aaron frowned. He expected something like a large cavernous room, glistening with steel or something similar, with catwalks and exposed piping and huge floodlights looming overhead illuminating some grand display of alien technology. Instead, it just looked like a boring old office atrium. The ceiling was just two stories above them with rows of fluorescent lights. Rows of computers and brightly lit panels lined a wide central aisle. The only parts similar to what Aaron envisioned was the wires snaking across the floor, and the constant hum of electrical equipment echoed around the room. It looked a bit like a power station or the air traffic control tower dozens of feet above them.
“Huh,” Aaron muttered as they stepped out of the elevator. He followed the man, hanging back to take in more of what he was walking into. Rainbow Dash followed the man close behind. Aaron noticed her gait quicken almost to a trot. She was even smiling now. Only then did Aaron notice the object at the far end of the hallway. It was about seven feet tall, and shaped like an oval. The surface looked like mirrored glass, but even from this distance tiny wavelike ridges could be seen rippling across its surface. It had a purple casing and was sitting on a small stepped dais.
Rainbow Dash’s smile widened. She kept stride with the suit as they walked toward the mirror. Aaron rushed to catch up.
Then Aaron noticed who was standing next to it. “Is that?” He whispered.
“Yes,” the man in the suit answered. “That is the governor. He requested a meeting with you.”
“But…” Aaron paused. Questions of what could possibly be beneath Denver International Airport were still left unanswered, and were now joined by the question of what the governor was doing down here. And meeting them? “Why?”
After what seemed like an eternity of walking down the avenue of computers toward the mirror, they were standing at last in front of the mirror machine, and next to it, the governor of Colorado. He extended a hand. Aaron grapsed it. “It’s an honor to meet you sir.”
“Thank you, Aaron” the governor replied. He turned and nodded to Rainbow Dash. “And good morning, Rainbow Dash. It has been a while, hasn’t it.”
“Yep, it sure has.”
Aaron was now even more confused. He looked back and forth between the two of them. Rainbow never mentioned she had met the governor. “Uh, excuse me,” two questions wrestled each other over which one would be asked first, “but what the heck is going on here?” He blurted out, gesturing broadly at the entire room. The other question followed immediately. “You know each other?”
As Aaron spoke, he heard a strange noise from behind him like cascading water resonating in a wooden tube. A calm female voice spoke behind him. “Well, I suppose that’s my cue.” Aaron turned. A pony, like Rainbow Dash but about twice as tall, was standing in front of the mirror. Her coat was bright white. Unlike Rainbow Dash, she had not just a pair of wings but a long horn on her forehead as well. The most striking about the pony however, Aaron thought, was the flowing mane and tail. It shimmered, morphing between a turquoise, teal, blue, and pink, and instead of individual hairs the maine and tail all seemed to flow at once and wave as if it were a single fluid entity.
Rainbow bowed and lowered her head as soon as she saw the other pony. Aaron glanced at her and made an awkward bow of his own. “Oh, there’s no need for that,” the pony said, waving a hoof in the air. The pony turned to Aaron “I am Princess Celestia of Equestria.” Celestia extended her hoof. Aaron reached out his right hand and started to ball it into a fist to bump the hoof as he had Rainbow’s many times. He stopped himself with his fingers curled and hesitated. Instead, he grasped it like a handshake. The hoof was clad in a gold metal shoe but didn’t feel cold to the touch.
“It is likewise an honor to meet you, Princess,” he said almost automatically repeating what he said to the governor. What else do you say when meeting royalty, or anyone of high office?
Celestia nodded and smiled at the hoofshake, and took a step toward the governor. “I think that’s everyone present, then. Shall we begin?” The governor and Celestia turned to face Rainbow Dash and Aaron.
The two of them looked at each other and back at their respective leaders. Rainbow shrugged. “I guess so. I still don’t know why we’re here. Or why you’re here, Princess.” A look of worry flashed across Rainbow’s face. “Did I do something wrong?” She said quickly.
Celestia smiled broadly. “You both are here because what you did, Rainbow, was a very commendable act. As I understand from the reports I’ve received, your quick thinking and action in a perilous situation possibly saved quite a few injuries and headaches out there.” Celestia looked upward toward the airport above them.
“Yes,” the governor continued. “Many people are proud to serve Colorado, and there are also a great many who risk injury and their own lives to help others. And a few days ago, you demonstrated that despite your brief time here, Rainbow Dash, you are one of those Coloradans. I’m proud to award you with the Colorado Governor’s Citizenship Medal for your public service.” The governor knelt to Rainbow’s height and put the medal around Rainbow’s neck. As he stood, Rainbow saluted him. The governor smiled. Rainbow Dash beamed as the governor stood back up.
Celestia then spoke. “I have something to give you too.” She turned her head and looked pointedly at Aaron, who was looking at Rainbow Dash. “Both of you.” Aaron looked up at the Princess, confused.
“Rainbow Dash, for your bravery in your service as our unofficial representative on Earth, I hereby award you with the Equestrian Medal of Valor. Not just for this act, but for your service throughout the last year. I hear your skills have been quite helpful to the community.” Celestia’s horn lit up in a faint gold aura, and she levitated a medal around Rainbow’s neck to join the Citizenship Medal.
“And, to you, Aaron Tesfaye, for making Rainbow Dash’s stay in Denver comfortable and for being such a good friend to her while she’s been here, I would like to award you with the Equestrian Friendship Medal.” Aaron was taken aback. He straightened his posture and stood tall as Celestia levitated the pink hexagonal medal over him. His eyes were level with hers, and he hoped his pride showed through in his gaze as the medal settled around his neck and Celestia’s magic dissipated.
“Thank you, your majesty.” Aaron saluted, just as Rainbow had to the governor. Celestia nodded in approval.
Celestia turned to Rainbow Dash. “Of course, the medal is not the only reason I am here.” Rainbow’s eyes shot open with a flash of realization. Suddenly, her ears drooped.
“Oh.” Rainbow’s tone plummeted from excitement and pride to dour. “Right.” She sighed. Aaron looked at Rainbow, but she would meet neither his nor Celestia’s gaze.
Celestia let out a wistful sigh as she turned to Aaron. “Oh to be young and carefree again. I see she’s forgotten some of the details of her delegation. Did she not tell you her time here is only for a limited term?” Aaron shook his head. “Rainbow Dash was assigned to Earth on a one year term of service. After that, she returns to Equestria.”
Aaron looked at Rainbow, and back at Celestia. “She’s leaving us after only a year? That’s crazy, you don’t know how much help Dash has been at DIA!”
Celestia sighed. “Yes, I know.” She nodded at the governor. “I’ve been getting regular reports.”
“Rainbow, you’ve been doing an excellent job at representing Equestria here on Earth.” Celestia smiled. Rainbow straightened up and flashed a smile at the praise. “But this was just a pilot program.”
“And if the trial is a success then? I’d think this proves it.” Rainbow pointed at her medal. She started to continue but caught herself. She realized she was speaking forcefully out of a hint of bitterness toward having to leave. If she kept going she might say something she’d regret.
“With flying colors.” Celestia winked in an attempt to break the tension. Her smile widened when Rainbow cracked a smile.
“Would there be any way I could see Rainbow again after she leaves?” Aaron stepped in.
This time to Aaron’s surprise, it was Rainbow that responded. “Probably not.” She felt her chin wobbling as she felt tears welling up in her eyes, and clenched it to try and appear strong. “I was told just getting a pony here was a big effort. I’m guessing we can’t risk too many ponies crossing the portal at one time - or humans coming to Equestria.” Rainbow sighed at the last part. She looked pleadingly at Celestia with a slim hope the Princess would correct her. To Rainbow’s dismay, Celestia nodded in affirmation.
“Then…” Rainbow racked her brain for ways to spend more time here. She enjoyed just being on Earth, it was so different from what she had been used to back home in Equestria. Cloudbusting and weather work was such mundane back in Ponyville. Here though, it was exciting! She never knew what kind of weather Colorado would throw at her! Plus, she was doing important work for a lot more than the hundreds of ponies she helped as weather manager in Ponyville. She was helping clear the skies to move millions of people around the country and the world! She just wanted a little more time to spend before going back to Equestria. “Then maybe we could extend my term here?”
Celestia thought for a moment, and glanced at the governor. He spoke for the first time in a while. “I’m not sure it’s my place to say, but Rainbow has been a valuable asset here for the airport, the city, and the state.”
“Hmm,” Celestia rubbed a hoof to her chin in thought. She leaned down to Rainbow Dash. “I think with this I can safely say the program will be extended. I understand you’ve very much enjoyed your experience here, right Rainbow?” Rainbow nodded vigorously. “Then it surely wouldn’t be right to deny that to the many other pegasi who have been waiting for a chance to have the same experience, now would it.”
Rainbow stopped nodding. Her smile disappeared as her brow furrowed She reflected on everything that had happened over the past year. Her first taste of Earth cider, meeting Aaron and their growing friendship, the exhilarating feeling of the first time being up in the sky with a jet flying by you and feeling the heat of the engine and rush of wind as it passed. Those were all once in a lifetime experiences that she wouldn’t give up for the world.
Of course it wouldn’t be right to deny another pony that opportunity. It would be selfish. Not that she wouldn’t normally jump at the chance, but she put herself in another pony’s horseshoes. If Rainbow hadn’t been the first, she couldn’t imagine how mad she would feel if she was anticipating her chance and then had to wait another year.
“You’re right, Princess,” Rainbow flicked her tail and looked down at the floor.
With the official business of the medal ceremony ended, four of them sat in the underground chamber by the portal for several minutes. It was intended to be time to chat more casually, but there was little conversation among them. The mood had soured after the celebratory start, as if a dark rain cloud had drifted overhead, except one that couldn’t be cleared by any pegasus. Rainbow realized she was the main cause of the tension in the air as she collected her thoughts in the silence. She should have told Aaron about the coming end of the contract, but she had honestly forgotten in the excitement of her work and the joy and comfort of finding a friend on Earth. She looked up at Aaron. His dark face looked twenty years past his age as he frowned. He was leaning hard on his elbow, forming a divot in the arm of the office chair he’d wheeled over to sit in. She tried to lighten the mood. “You know what I’m gonna miss most about this place when I leave?” She glanced at Aaron.
“What?” Aaron took the weight of his head off his balled hand.
“You, of course.” Rainbow winked. “But also Blucifer.”
The governor looked up at the ceiling and laughed. “You know, I think we’re about directly under Blucifer right now.” A round of ‘huh’ echoed from the four of them.
Rainbow continued, barely acknowledging the governor’s remark. “Blucifer was a nice reminder of Equestria. I’m glad I got to see him every day before work. I am kind of disappointed I won’t be able to see the Ursa before I leave though, with my flight restriction.” Rainbow stopped, not wanting to dampen the conversation again.
It didn’t. Celestia’s eyes shot open as she leaned forward with urgent interest at the mention of an Ursa. “An Ursa? Here?”
Aaron looked confused for a moment. What could Rainbow Dash possibly be talking about? Then it hit him. She had mentioned some Ursa a couple times before, when Aaron brought her a few postcards one day early on to decorate her work shed on the grounds with. “She’s talking about the big blue bear statue at the convention center.”
Celestia sat down on her haunches with a faint sigh of relief, but a sense of concern still emanated from her. “Oh, good. I thought there was an actual Ursa running around Colorado. That would be a bigger problem than anything I could deal with right now.”
The governor and Aaron glanced at Celestia. The governor whispered to Celestia. “Should I be worried about this?”
Celestia didn’t hear the governor over Rainbow Dash. “Because of magic leakage?”
Celestia pursed her lips and hesitated. After a second, she replied. “Yes,” Celestia confirmed. “That’s why I’m worried about having a pony here for too long.” There was a moment of awkward silence as Celestia brought up Rainbow’s soon departure from Earth again. Celestia spoke quickly, trying to fill the silence “Anyway, I should get back. I’ve been here long enough already,” she smiled. “And you two should be getting back to your jobs now that this matter is settled. Again,” she leaned toward both Rainbow and Aaron, “my sincerest congratulations on all you’ve done over the last year. Both of you.”
The governor called for the security aide who drove Rainbow Dash and Aaron there to escort them back to the ground level of the terminal. They said their goodbyes and left. The long elevator ride up saw them both in mixed spirits. The pilot and the pegasus agreed that mixed spirits were a good idea and returned to the cidery.
Celestia took a few steps toward the portal before the governor spoke again. “Princess Celestia, if I could have a word with you a moment before you leave?”
Celestia stopped and faced the governor. “Oh, certainly.”
“I know what you just told them, but the limit on pegasi coming through the portal was just for the pilot program, right? Rainbow Dash has done an excellent job, but we really could use more pegasi here. The news of how clear and safe Denver’s airport is has spread and other airports are asking for the secret. I’ve already got O’Hare, Seatac, Aspen, and Telluride asking how we’ve kept the runways and skies clear. Rainbow Dash’s work really has made a huge impact on our safety record.”
Celestia bristled. “We really can’t. Our population, you must understand, is nowhere as large as yours. The whole population of Equestria is maybe half the size of Denver. We simply can’t spare more than one pegasus at a time.”
“I understand, your highness.” Celestia looked at the portal. The governor was about to offer to shake her hoof before she left, when Celestia spoke again.
“And… there’s another reason that you should know.”
The governor arched his eyebrows. “Oh?”
“The reason I was worried about the Ursa when Rainbow mentioned it.”
“That couldn’t really happen.” The governor flicked a glance to the shimmering mirror of the portal and back. “Could it?”
“It’s-” Celestia started “well, not anymore.”
Slowly the governor repeated Celestia’s last word with growing incredulity.
Celestia paused. Of anyone still living, only Luna and herself knew the thoughts racing through her mind at that moment. Nopony - nobody, Celestia corrected herself as she looked at the humans around the facility - else knew this. That moment, Celestia decided that should change. With the mirror to this Earth beginning up regular use again, her equivalent in this world ought to know the truth. “Yes. Look, before I go any further. I need you to swear to utter and complete secrecy what I am about to tell you.”
The governor put a hand to his heart. “On my honor as the executive of the State of Colorado.”
Celestia sighed. It felt good to be able to share this with another soul that was not her sister’s. “In previous era of this Earth… humans weren’t the only intelligent species. We ponies used to live here and share it.” The governor’s mouth dropped open as he mouthed the word. Share? Celestia noticed and nodded solemnly. “Thousands of years ago. When my sister and I were still young. Before Equestria, before the earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns were united.” Celestia looked past the governor, remembering those fateful days so long ago. The governor listened with rapt attention.
“The three main pony tribes had their own countries hundreds of miles north of here. Other ponies had small settlements dotted around the plains of this continent. It was wonderful; the three tribes were trading with each other, coexisting in peace and aiding each other to prosper. However, around twelve millennia ago, something happened. The three nations started fighting. Their hatred brought forth spirits called windigoes, ghostly spirits made manifest from cold and hatred. The windigoes brought cold and ice, and blizzards that destroyed the lands the three pony tribes called home. The leaders were forced to migrate south as the cold from the poles advanced and overtook their lands. They continued to fight each other over the new land. My sister and I watched the tribes tear each other asunder, and with their conflict the climate became colder, the three nations all withered, and the population of ponies dwindled.
“It got to a point where we had to do something. Luna and I pooled our magic together and created the portal there.” Princess Celestia pointed a hoof at the mirror. “It took decades to discover the magic used to create the portal. By the time we emerged, we found only a small remnant of the three tribes, barely a hundred ponies, huddled in a cave in the mountains west of here. They followed us through the portal to the new planet and together, united, we built what is now Equestria.”
Celestia took a deep breath. She had not told another soul the story, the true story, of the founding of Equestria in who knew how many eons. Starswirl the Bearded was the last to learn the secret until now. She took a deep breath when she finished and looked at the governor to see his reaction.
The governor stood with his mouth agape, looking between the portal and the Princess. After a minute of connecting these new thoughts with previous knowledge, he finally spoke. “That’s amazing. So many things make sense now.”
It was Celestia’s turn to drop her jaw. “What?” Her voice trembled with worry, but it was superseded by an intense curiosity. If something had happened in this world that could be a resurgence of Equestrian magic, she needed to find out what it was.
“The extinction of wild horses in North America.” His voice was quiet and Celestia had to focus her ears toward him and take a step closer to hear. “During the last ice age. The archaeological record shows wild horses in North America before humans arrived on the continent, but they all went extinct sometime between 15,000 and 10,000 years ago. Around the last time the northern glaciation hit its maximum extent.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow, surprised at the governor’s ability to recall the information. “And you know about this?”
The governor shrugged. “I was a geologist before I went into politics.” He continued, changing the subject. “Another thing that’s been on my mind; I suppose this explains why Rainbow Dash is able to move clouds here?”
Celestia nodded and smiled at the governor’s intuition. “Yes, it does.” They talked for several more minutes about the portal, possible locations of the cave where the last of the three pony nations were found, and the future of the liaison program between Equestria and Earth. After saying their goodbyes and a promise to stay in touch, Celestia left through the portal once again.
The governor went back up the elevator and left the airport, still processing the newfound knowledge about the world.
“Interesting day today, sir?” The driver of the governor’s car said as he stepped in.
The governor shook his head and chuckled. “This airport holds even more secrets than I could have ever known.” The car sped down the road back toward downtown Denver. He took a glance out of the window and watched the glowing red eyes of Blucifer as the statue passed. The left eye almost seemed to wink. As the governor squinted and looked closer, he smiled. It was just a certain blue pegasus crossing in front of the blue painted statue as she flew.