//------------------------------//
// Crash Landing 
// Story: Cast Away. 
// by Blue Thunder 
//------------------------------//

	Crash Landing

Lightning flash was was sitting in the waiting room of his boss's office. He worked for the branch of the Equestrian Mail Service that delivered the mail to the individual town and city mail services. Specifically he delivered to the Griffin Empire along the overseas route. He had been told that there was a storm brewing just off the coast, right in the middle of his route. He was waiting for an updated map with his new route circumventing the storm. The receptionist walks out of the office and hands him a map with his route mapped out in red. His new route was mapped out in orange and was about 50 miles further out into the ocean then his normal route, which averaged thirty miles from the coast. He looks at the maps and turns to the receptionist. "This can't be right. 50 miles further over the ocean? What type of storm are the weather pegasi planning?"

She walks over to her desk and checks a paper. "Apparently it's time for the yearly hurricane test. Te expected to be they made a 70 mile buffer zone from the eye of the hurricane because the water and air temp. are expected to be slightly higher then normal."

"At least they accounted for growth because of the warmer temp's. I feel much safer knowing they at least think of the safety of others when they decide to place a hurricane right in the middle of one of the busiest trade routes in Equestria." She smiles at the sarcasm dripping from his words. He thanks her and turns to leave.

"Just one more thing. Your normal co-pilot called in sick and the only free co-pilot we have at the moment is a new recruit. His name is Thunder Hooves, and he is very eager to learn the arts of cross-ocean deliveries. Go easy on him." 

She smiles before closing the door. Flash sighs and rolls his eyes. The thought of teaching a noob how to fly made him want to try to run the route by himself, but with the amount of weight that would be on his delivery chariot today this was definitely a two pony job.

Down in the loading docks, Flash finds his chariot all loaded up and strapped down. This chariot was his personal chariot, he had it custom made when he first got into the overseas routes. While the standard cargo chariots were good for short and medium range deliveries, for the long haul deliveries you wanted a chariot that was comfortable and lightweight while still being strong and aerodynamic. He remembered his first overseas delivery with a standard cargo chariot. His wings were sore for a week. Shaking off the memories he proceeds to check all the straps and cargo, making sure nothing was loose.

An hour later he signs the paperwork and hands a copy back to the loading dock foreman. He walks back to his chariot and gives the straps and supports one last check. 'Where is that blasted pony? He should be here by now.' As if on cue, a grey pegasus with a mane of dark grey and two streaks of pure white walks up.

"Whats up. I'm Thunder Hooves, are you Lighting Flash?"

'O dear Celestia, just kill me now. JUST KILL ME NOW.' "Yes, but just call me Flash. I am assuming you have absolutely no experience tandem pulling."

"Actually, I worked for a long distance moving company before this. I usually pulled by myself, but when we were weighed down of had an extreme distance I would pull in a side-by-side configuration with my brother."

'So, this might not be as bad as i thought' He walks over to the chariot. "As you can tell, this isn't a normal chariot. It was specialy designed for long hauls. I paid for this with my own bits. You will treat it as if you bought it yourself, understood?"

He salutes. "Yes sir."

"Good, then we will get along just fine. Strap in, were running late already." He watches as Thunder straps himself in with ease, showing he knows what hes doing. Flash smiles and straps himself in as well. He pulls the map out and shows it to Thunder. "There is a hurricane forming along my usual route so we will be taking this route here. I hope you aren't afraid of high wind and lots of rain." Thunder just smiles and shakes his head. "Good, lets get going." Flash stretches his wings to their full length. He had inheareated his fathers wingspan, power, and endurance, all of which were nearly twice the amount of a normal stallion. As he finishes stretching he gives the signal to take off and both stallions break into a gallop before taking flight. As he angles up to gain altitude, he feels the full weight of the chariot drag at his harness and hes glad he has and experienced co-pilot with him. As they reach their designated altitude they make the turn out towards the ocean. After about half an hour of flying time they start to loose sight of the coast behind them. Flash has time for one last glance before it dissapears below the horizon.

About an hour later they reach the part of there route that is the farthest from land. There hadn't been much talking, but as a huge storm front appears in front of them Thunder turns to Flash.

"I thought we were supposed to go AROUND the hurricane, not through it."

Flash shrugs. "Maybe it's just a small storm that broke off the main one." Five minutes later they they enter the first clouds and get their answer. It wasn't. Flash has to yell over the building wind and rain. "IT MUST HAVE BEEN WARMER THEN THE WEATHER PEGASI THOUGHT. THIS STORM IS OUT OF CONTROL." They had stoped trying to push through the wind and were spending all their energy just trying to stay airborne. After thirty minutes of fighting the wind and rain they suddenly fly into a slightly calmer spot in the storm.

Thunder Hooves shouts at Flash. "I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH LONGER I CAN KEEP THIS UP."

Lightning Flash nods but yells back. "WE HAVE TO KEEP TRYING, WERE TO FAR OUT TO MAKE IT TO LAND AND WE CAN'T TURN BACK AFTER COMING SO FAR, WE WOULD NEVER MAKE IT."

Thunder puts the most determined face he has on and nods.

After five more minuts in the slightly calmer patch their hit by a sudden gust, sending them into a flat spin. Flash groans as the G-forces try to pull him and Thunder out of the harnesses. Flash tries despreatly to stop the spin, knowing the alternative is to crash of to ditch it. He tries every trick he can think of but its no use, he can sense the ocean getting closer with every second. He finally decides to yell something he had hoped he'd never have to yell. "WE CAN'T SAVE HER, DITCH THE CHARIOT." 

Thunder nods and reaches down to release the straps. Within moments hes free and the wind and G-forces fling him out of sight. Lightning Flash reaches down to do the same, but the G-forces had pulled the straps tight and the rain had swollen all the ropes, leaving him unable to untie the harness from from the chariot. He screams Thunder's name but he knows even if he could hear him, the wind is too strong for him to be of any help. He resigns himself to his fate and relaxes, waiting for the impact, when the uneven pull, caused by one pony instead of two, actually stops the spin. He looks down just in time to see land beneath him and pulls up, hitting soft wet sand. He slides twenty hooves before the chariot flips and lands on him. He hears a snap and screams in pain before sliding head first into a rock, sending him into darkness.