//------------------------------//
// We Deliver What You Mail 
// Story: Detour: The Road to Uprise 
// by Jetset0099 
//------------------------------//

       "I think it's healed by now."
The blue earth pony grabbed the end of his partner's bandage and began to peel it away. She winced in pain and he stopped. 
"You have to do it quick." She groaned. "Just get it over with."

"Alright." He warned, "Get ready. One. Two. Three!"
He ripped the bandage off as she let out a quick yelp of pain before settling back down in their cavern.  
They had been traveling since four AM, only staying in the plane for a couple hours before they decided to leave. She had suggested going south, where the small towns like Dodge Junction and Appleoosa would serve as a good place to lay low. However, they both knew that their pursuers were not stupid, and that they'd probably figure out their methods of hiding after a short time. 
Her partner suggested heading north to the Crystal Empire. The harsh weather conditions would surely slow them down, but it would also do the same for the two they were running from. The Crystal Empire was also huge. It'd be like finding a needle in a haystack. 
So after a quick debate, he came out on top and they doubled back and headed north. Eleven hours of traveling brought them to the very start of the giant snow plains that separated the Empire from the rest of Equestria. It was here that heavy wind and snowfall tormented the lands, and visibility was minimal. 
Today was no exception. The snow whirled around, and temperatures dropped to twenty below. Being an educated stallion, he quickly was able to dig down far enough into the snow to create a small cavern just big enough for the two of them to sleep. Fire wasn't an option for warmth, as it would just turn their makeshift shelter into a swimming pool, so they just relied on body heat and the one scarf she had wrapped around her neck. 
"How long should we stay here?" She asked.

"A couple of hours maybe. Three tops. We have to cover ground and keep our distance. It's just a long trek across this frozen wasteland and we're there where we'll be safe. We can blend in with society, get jobs, start a new life together. No more tyranny. No more toiling away at the mercy of his hooves. We can use our knowledge for good, not the evil we were creating. They can't finish it without us, and if it comes down to taking my own life to keep it that way, then so be it."
She grabbed his hoof. 
"Don't say things like that. You won't have to take your life, nor will I. Like you said, we can start a new life together at the Crystal Empire."
She laid her head down and closed her eyes. 
"Now let's get some rest before we waste too much time."
He followed suit and laid his head down next to hers, letting the element of sleep overcome him.
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"Five thousand feet." said Sleethoof with a worried tone in his voice. He was watching the altimeter like his life depended on it, which, in this situation, it really did. 
"Four thousand."
The plane bounced up and down in the wind, and there was no visibility whatsoever. A bead of sweat made it's way down Jake's forehead as he grasped the yoke with both hooves to keep the plane stable. He entrusted Kline, who had moved to the jump seat directly behind the center console, with the throttles. 
The Crystal Empire was a very difficult landing. A large magical barrier surrounded the city, keeping out the harsh elements. The final approach was very easy because there was no weather elements to battle while landing. The major problem, however, was entering the barrier at the right spot in order to line up with the runway. There was plenty of room to circle around inside the magical orb, but the end of the runway was too close to the edge in order to line up properly. He'd have to swing around in the middle of the runway and touch down, meaning he'd only have half the distance to stop. To him, there was only one way of doing this: the right way on the first try. 
The Empire came on to the radio feed as the crew approached three thousand feet. 
"Ok Metal Eagle you're doing great, just keep it steady, continue on your glide path, and should hit your target, give or take a few feet."
Their goal was to hit the barrier at two hundred knots at one thousand feet. So far they hit their target with speed, but were still one thousand feet too high.
"Drop the nose further!" shouted Klauss. 
"I know what I'm doing!" he snapped back. "We're almost there."

"Fifteen hundred feet!" said Sleethoof. "The radars indicating we're only a half a mile away from the barrier. We have to descend quickly!"
With one final effort Jake pushed the yoke forward and cut the throttles. A minute later the shuddering ceased, and bright sunlight filled the cockpit as the C-130 slid through the violet wall of magic and into the Crystal Empire. The four of them breathed a sigh of relief as they were almost in line with the runway. A quick tap of the left rudder petal set them straight again, and he pulled the nose up to flare the aircraft. 
Up in the palace, Cadence watched from her telescope as the plane touched down on the runway and began slowing to a halt. She cantered back into the Master Bedroom and into the hallway where she met up with Shining Armor, who had been out training the Royal Guard. 
"Honey, Jake is in with the crystal centerpiece. Let's go down to the airfield and say hello. The weather is worse than I've ever seen it beyond the walls, so I'm sure it wasn't easy flying that here. The least we could do is give them a formal welcome."
He smiled and showed her to the door. 
"Sounds good to me."
Across town, Jake and his crew rolled to a stop at the end of the runway. The pilot sat back in his chair and let out a sigh of relief. Kline chuckled and leaned forward to Jake. 
"I never realized how much I took the ground for granted."
A sarcastic laugh from the captain let everyone know he was still in recovery mode from the nail-biting approach. Sleethoof drew the crew back together from their distress as he unbuckled and stood up. 
"Alright, let's taxi over and get this thing unloaded. We're late as is."
Without word, Jake throttled up just enough to get the plane rolling. He turned around and taxied back down the runway to the middle, where a large rectangular piece of tarmac was positioned off to the right as a place to park. He swung the aircraft around so the nose was facing the runway, and the ramp towards the opposite edge of the unloading space.
He released the lever in the cockpit and led the other three to the back of the cargo bay just as the ramp hit the ground. 
Ten city workers gathered by the ramp to greet them. The foreman of the operation walked up and shook Jake's hoof. 
"Rough time gettin' in I hear."
The pilot just shook his head. 
"You wouldn't believe it, my friend."

"I'm sure. Let's roll her off so you guys can get out of here."
Jake stepped out into the sun filled Empire, taking in the warm air and calm breeze. 
"I don't think I want to get out of here any time soon."

"You don't have to!"
Everyone turned to see Shining Armor and Cadence, who had teleported over from the palace. They all bowed in their presence before he jokingly rolled his eyes. 
"Come on, this is informal."
Jake went over and shook his hoof.
"Nice to see you again, Shining. It's been awhile. With you way up here in this nightmare I can't imagine anypony who'd want to visit."
They exchanged a laugh before the pilot turned to Cadance and gave a small bow. 
"It's nice to see you too, ma'am."

"Oh please, you know my name." she snickered. 
The Princess looked over to the massive crate that was now being rolled off via winch and unicorn magic. 
"That's quite a load you flew up here. Thank you for doing that. It would've taken forever by train. This is quite possibly the worst storm we've ever had up here. Not including the time King Sombra attempted a takeover."

"Yeah, it was quite an ordeal flying up here. But," he looked back to the grey C-130, "this tin can saw us through. It's going back that's gonna be tough. Now the wind will be hitting from the front AND at an angle, which will drastically slow me down."
Shining Armor noticed the crate was unloaded and the workers were now in possession, meaning Jake and his crew had finished their portion of the job. He looked back at Jake and the team, who had joined him since then, and smiled. 
"Well there's no point in you trying to fly back right now. Let's grab a drink in town. On me. Consider it a thank you for braving this weather."
Sleethoof, still being a student, spoke up at hearing this. 
"Uh, I'm only eighteen. I can't go into a bar here."
Cadence raised her hoof to assure him. 
"Eighteen is close enough. You deserve one, dear."
They all laughed as they walked off the tarmac and into town to finally catch a break from the weather.
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Evening settled over Sweet Apple Acres as Big Macintosh finished raking up the fallen leaves in front of the barn. The weather had cleared long since Jake's departure, and a warm, golden sky cast out over the town. 
The farm pony looked out to the rows upon rows of trees, and sighed at the monumental mess of dead, strewn about leaves. Not all of them had to be picked up, but the main paths leading down between the  trees definitely needed to be cleared. 
Applejack came out to see his progress, and was pleased to see the leeway he'd made.
"We're gettin' there, Mac. Baby steps. We'll have this whole area cleaned up in due time."

"Eeyup."
They stood there for a minute, enjoying the calm weather before Applejack broke the silence. 
"Well let's git ready fer dinner. Y'all definitely earned it."
They turned and headed back to the farm house. As they approached the porch, two silhouettes, unable to be identified due to the darkness, walked through the front gate. 
Mac became slightly uneasy at the sight of them, and put a hoof on his sisters shoulder.
"Stay here."
He walked over to them so he could identify the duo before they got any closer to his house. 
"Can ah help y'all?" he called out. 
They met face to face, and Mac was able to see them in detail now. One an orange pegasus, and the other a black earth pony, both wearing dark overcoats. The orange one reached out his hoof, which Mac cautiously shook. 
"Hello sir, my name is Doctor Sanders, and this," he pointed over to Hertz, "is my colleague, Professor  Hewitt. We're science teachers at Canterlot University, and we have a bit of an emergency. You see, there were two students who went out on an expedition to research the energy and patterns of lightning, and thought Ponyville, because of its crack team of weather pegasi, was one of the best places to do it. However they haven't come back, and it's been three days. Here are their pictures."
The red stallion took them in his hoof and tried to make out the images, but it was too dark. Against his better judgement, he cautiously invited them into the house so he could get a better look. He didn't fully believe them at the time, but if they were telling the truth, he'd like to do everything he could to help. 
They walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table across from the two siblings, handing them the pictures once more. As they had their heads down in concentration, Hertz glanced over to Binary with a hopeful expression in his eyes. The pegasus jerked his head, motioning him to pay attention. Once Mac was done looking at the photos, Binary described their escapees.  
"The blue one goes by the name of Macluma Watts. He is an extremely intelligent stallion in the field of electricity and electrical engineering. His partner, the green pegasus, goes by the name of Sienna Contour. She is very skilled at designing and building. Both are top students, and I'd be mortified if anything happened to them."
Hertz broke into the conversation, a little too abruptly for Applejack's taste. 
"So have you seen 'em?"
Binary cringed at his accomplice's poor choice of words. 
The orange mare thought for a minute about their story. Was it true? Even though she knew she'd never seen them before, were they in harms way being pursued by these two strangers? She decided to interrogate a little bit. 
"Can ah see some identifications proving that y'all say who ya are?"
Binary, using his wits, had thought ahead and made up two fake ID cards for them. They both pulled them out and slapped them down on the table. Mac took Hertz's, and Applejack took Binary's. After a mutual consent between the two, they looked legitimate. They passed them back, and Applejack continued her questioning. 
"They seem real. However, these ponies," she held up both of their photos for the two to see, "they look a tad too old to be in college. Now ah don't wanna believe yer lying to us. Y'all have ta jes realize that this story seems kinda sketchy. There wasn't a single bolt of lightin' scheduled in that storm we had earlier. Ah know, mah friend is one of the weather captains when she ain't flyin' around with the Wonderbolts. And for the other two days before that, there hasn't been a cloud in the sky. Don't ya think they would've scheduled a time when they knew for SURE there'd be lightin'?" 
Hertz began to fidget slightly in his seat, hoping his accomplice could come up with an answer. After a moment of silence, he pieced one together. 
"First off, the reason they're older is because they're both going for a doctorate degree, which requires at least six years of schooling. They're enrolled much longer than anypony who is just going for a bachelors or masters. As to why they chose this time to go, we're not really sure either. We simply told them we wanted data on the power and striking frequencies of lighting in and around Ponyville. When they chose to leave was up to them. Maybe they thought there would be lightning in this afternoon's storm."
He leaned back in his chair and continued.
"Look. The bottom line is that we are who we say we are. We're simply two concerned teachers looking out for our students. If you haven't seen them, we'll be on our way."
Mac decided to end it there. 
"No, sir. We ain't seen anypony like them. We'll keep an eye out though. Is there any contact information y'all can give me so if ah do see 'em ah know who to get in touch with?"
Hertz pulled out a card with an address of their headquarters. To the farm pony, it appeared to be the address of the University in Canterlot. He accepted the card and nodded.
"Thank ya."
The duo stood up. Hertz reached out and shook Mac's hoof. 
"No, thank you."
He grinned as they exchanged goodbyes. Applejack narrowed her eyes in disapproval at the expression on the black stallion's face. It seemed...forced. 
The farmer led them to the door and out to the porch. Night had fallen since they entered the Apple home, and the moon was nowhere to be found as it hid behind a large mass of clouds that had rolled in. He expected more storms tonight.  
Binary turned back as they walked down the steps. 
"Thank you again, Macintosh."
With that, the two walked out the front gate into the darkness. 
Applejack walked back into the kitchen, Mac in tow, and sat down with him. 
"What do ya reckon, sis?"
She pondered for a minute. 
"Ah ain't sure. They're probably tellin' the truth, but ah can't help bein' skeptical."

"Ah know what ya mean. Let's get some sleep. It's probably gonna rain again, meanin' them leaves will be one wet mess."
He started up the stairs, sleep beginning to overcome him as he yawned. 
"Ah guess we'll jes have ta-"

"Wait a minute."
He was cut short by his sister, who was still sitting at the table. He turned and looked down over the railing at her. 
"What is it, sis?"
She whipped around and faced him, a mix of confusion and fear in her eyes. 
"What was the last thing he said to ya?"
The farmer, getting progressively tired, had to think for a moment. 
"Umm, goodbye Macintosh. Yeah that was it. Wh-"
He instantly snapped to attention when he realized where she was heading. 
"Ya never told him yer name."

"Nnope."