//------------------------------//
// A Plane Out Of Place 
// Story: Detour: The Road to Uprise 
// by Jetset0099 
//------------------------------//

       Sweet Apple Acres was cold and damp the next morning after it had rained the previous night. The leaves that were supposed to be cleared that day were soaked, making them stick to the dirt like a floor mat. 
Luckily for Macintosh, he'd already promised his sister he'd go into town to investigate their meeting last night, so he didn't feel obligated to clean anyways. 
The siblings walked out of the front gate and started down the road. Applejack seemed uneasy about what happened last night. 
"Ah jes can't shake the feeling that they were lyin'. It all seemed too unnatural."
Mac simply listened to her thoughts, trying to form his own opinion of the two professors that had visited them. 
They continued walking in silence until they got to the highest point in the dirt road. There, they could see over the town, along with the landing strip off to the right. The absence of a grey C-130 confused Applejack. 
"Wasn't Jake supposed to be home by now?"
Mac shrugged. 
"It's possible he left already for his next run. He's always busy. Ahm sure there's an explanation for it."
When they began the downhill leg into town, she started planning out their search. 
"Ah think it's best we start with Twilight. If anypony will know anything, it'll most likely be her."

"Eeyup."
The two walked down the main drag of Ponyville, and instantly were thrown off by the street's emptiness. There was nobody on the road, nor in the shops. One colt could be seen running down a back street, but that was it. Applejack leaned over to Mac. 
"What the hay is goin' on?"
The farmer shrugged. 
"Ah haven't a clue. Maybe somethin' is goin' on an' we didn't get the message."

"Ah highly doubt that, Mac. Whatever it is, we'll-"

"INCOMIIIIIIIING!"
Bam! Applejack was knocked over before she could even blink by a certain rainbow colored pegasus. 
The orange earth pony staggered upright again and re-adjusted her Stetson. 
"Rainbow Dash, what in tarnation are y'all doin'?! Y'almost killed me."
Before she had time to continue, the pegasus shot up from the ground and clamped a hoof over Applejack's mouth. 
"Now is not the time, AJ! Get over to Twilight's house as fast as you can! It's an emergency!"
Before any questions could be asked, she bolted away into the sky. Mac looked over to his sister with a worried complexion on his face. Without word, they dashed off in the direction of her house.
It only took them a good minute or so before they rounded the corner into the large town square where the library sat on the other side. What they saw amazed them. Almost every citizen of Ponyville was gathered there, waiting for whatever it was they were asked to come out  for. 
Twilight, without warning, teleported with a huge flash of purple light directly in front of the two, scaring Applejack quite badly. 
"Jeez, Twilight. Don't get my heart racin' like that!"

"Sorry." she said. "We have an emergency. There's no time to start explaining now, but I want you and the others up front by the treehouse. Macintosh, you go too. This is important."
As quickly as she came, she left in the same flash of purple light. The two siblings just looked at each other, then started pushing their way through the crowd. Mac, being a head taller than almost everyone in town, was able to see what was up front. He leaned down to her and spoke up over the droning of various conversations in the crowd. 
"All yer friends are up there." he said. 
"What?!" She cupped a hoof over her ear. 
"Ah said, all yer friends are up there!"
She nodded and pushed through to the front. There, she saw her friends, save for Twilight and Rainbow dash. 
"Over here!" yelled Rarity as she waved a hoof in the air. Applejack walked over and greeted them. The distressed look on Pinkie Pie, who normally was always cheerful and happy, worried her. 
"What happened?" she asked. "Why is everypony here?"
Fluttershy stepped forward. "It's Jake. He never came back last night.   I'm so worried."
Rarity chimed in. 
"They tried reaching him through communication spells, but there was no response. We don't know what happened to him, dear."
Just then, Twilight appeared on the balcony of her treehouse, overlooking everything. Upon seeing her, the huge crowd quieted down to hear what she had to say. Rainbow Dash landed next to Fluttershy just as she began. 
"Hello, everypony. I'm sure you're all wondering why you're here. I'll get right to the point. It's an emergency. Around three o'clock this morning, the Ponyville weather pegasus in charge of the airstrip outside of town became concerned on the whereabouts of Jake Weston and his crew onboard their airplane. He tried reaching them with communication spell, and there was no answer. Immediately, he called the Crystal Empire, Jake's last known location, and they said he'd left around eleven that night. I'll let the weather pony who first noticed fill in the rest. Captain Stratos?"
She stepped aside and made way for an older, dark grey pegasus with a long white mane and tail. He nodded to her and faced the crowd. 
"Thank you, Twilight. Lets get to business. The plane's last known location was the Crystal Empire, and it had a direct course for Ponyville. This meant that Jake had to fly straight through the Northern Snow Plains, where weather forecasts have described what is said to be the worst blizzard it's ever experienced. He crashed somewhere in there. There's no doubt in my mind that that's what happened. I can't guarantee that he's alive, nor can I say he's dead. I can tell you though, that Jake is an extremely capable pilot, and I'm sure he handled the situation to the best of his abilities. The Princesses have been notified of the situation, and are currently strategizing. I come to all of you today, under their orders, to ask for a monumental task to be performed. We are gathering a search party to go and look for Jake and his crew of three. In those temperatures, they don't have long, so we need to get up there as quickly as possible. If anypony wishes to volunteer, they can meet me in front of the airstrip in exactly thirty minutes. There, I will fill in the other small details. I realize this is an extreme challenge. The north is colder and windier than it's ever been, but I wouldn't come to all of you if I didn't think that the vast majority here is capable of achieving such a task. Thank you. You're all dismissed."
The moment Captian Stratos retreated back into the house, there was confusion and bewilderment amongst the crowd. Inside Twilight's house, the captain descended the stairs, the unicorn in tow. 
"Why isn't the Royal Guard assigned to this task?" she asked. 
"They are." he responded. "There are plenty of ponies here that are more capable of extreme conditions than the vast majority of the Royal Guard. They're trained to fight and protect, not search and rescue. There's only a couple Guard members that specialize in that, and they're going along as well to lead the expedition. I need a bigger search party in order to do this safely." 
He stopped at the door and looked back to Twilight. 
"Jake and his crew are going to freeze to death sooner or later. That plane won't hold in the heat forever. I'm sure I'll find suitable volunteers amongst this lot."
With that, he pushed open the door and stepped into the square, where he was instantly bombarded with questions and concerns. He didn't respond to any of them, and kept his head down and walked. Finally, he turned around and spoke once more. 
"Like I said, in front of the airstrip in thirty minutes if you wish to volunteer!"
He galloped off down the street and turned the corner. 
Most of the citizens went on and continued their day. After a couple minutes, the square was reduced to only Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Big Mac, and around seven others who were willing to volunteer. One of them, who was instantly recognized by Mac as Noteworthy, spoke up. 
"I don't blame any of them for not volunteering, this seems like it's a deadly mission. What do you guys think?"

"Ah won't think any different of ya if ya don't wanna volunteer, Noteworthy. All ah know is that ah have ta. Jake is mah friend, an' he's helped me out of a bind plenty o' times. Only seems right that ah help him outta this one."

"Well then I'm goin' too." Applejack declared. "Ah owe Jake this much as well."

"Nnope." Mac shook his head and pointed back in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. "As much as ah think yer capable of doin' this, ah need y'all back at the farm. Ain't no tellin' how long we'll be gone out there. We have a couple more clients comin' in fer their late orders of cider, an' even though this is an emergency situation, if ah can, ahm still gonna keep the farm up an' runnin'."
Applejack stared at her brother in disbelief. 
"Mac! Are y'all kiddin' me right now?! I'm going with ya ta save Jake and his crew. Ah couldn't live knowin' that ah didn't help out the very pony who saved our farm from bankruptcy in his time of need. Either ah go with ya, or we both stay."
Mac sighed and closed his eyes. Deep down he knew it was because he didn't think she could handle the journey. The temperatures were unlike anything in any other part of Equestria. 
"Now listen here, Mac." Applejack continued. "Ah've been through those snow plains before, an' ah realize they're worse now than when ah went, but ah sure as heck know what to expect. More than you do to be honest. So ahm gonna go with y'all. We'll deal with the farm later. Friends come first."
The red farmer thought to himself for a moment, letting his signature piece of hay drop from his mouth. 
"Fine. Y'all can come, too. But ya gotta be on yer toughest game to handle what lies ahead. Even ahm not sure what to expect."
Applejack looked confused. 
"Mac, ah just told ya that ah've been up there before. Ah don't get-"
He calmly raised a hoof to speak. He spoke not only to his sister, but to the other potential volunteers as well. 
"What ahm sayin'...an' Clestia forbid...it ain't out of the picture that we..." he tried to gather his thoughts, and put them together in the most delicate way possible."Might find a plane crash with...four stallions that didn't quite make it."
Applejack was appalled. 
"Mac! Don't think like that!"

"Ahm jes sayin', Applejack. Them temperatures are extremely deadly up there. Ya have ta think of all the possible solutions. Hope fer the best, but prepare fer the worst."
A couple of the volunteers shuddered at the thought of four frozen bodies up in the arctic wilderness, especially Fluttershy, who couldn't even begin to imagine such a thing. 
Just then, Twilight came over.
"Ok, whose thinking about going? I'm definitely in."

"Well then you can count us in too, dear." Rarity said. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy all nodded as well. Fluttershy seemed very refrained from agreeing, and her nod seemed forced. Applejack came over and put a hoof on her shoulder. 
"It's ok, Fluttershy. Y'all don't have ta go if ya don't want to. It's dangerous, an' ah won't blame ya fer stayin' back and taking care of yer animals."
The pegasus shook her head. 
"No. I've been through worse with you guys. Jake and his friends need our help. And I'm going to help in any way I can."
Pinkie Pie jumped up in a burst of confetti. 
"Yay! Search party!"
Twilight facehoofed. 
"Pinkie, it's not a party. This is serious."

"Oh! Okie dokie then!"
She dropped to the ground as the confetti slowly fell around her. "Let's go find Jake!" 
She immediately began bouncing off in the direction of the airfield, prompting Rainbow Dash to fly after her. 
"I'll wait for you guys there!" She called back. 
Twilight turned to the rest of the group, which now consisted, after a couple had backed out, only three stallions including Noteworthy. 
"Are you boys coming, too?"
They looked at each other and collectively nodded. One of them spoke up. 
"I never knew Jake personally, but I know of all the good things he's done, and it seems in best interest to assist in his rescue."
The purple unicorn smiled.
"Well good! We need all the help we can get. Let's go, everypony."
The eight of them set off for the airstrip, eager to see what Captain Stratos had planned for a rescue. 
Applejack trotted up to Twilight, hoping for some quick information about their surprise guests last night. 
"Hey Twi, ah got a question fer ya."

"Shoot." She said. 

"Y'all see two stallions walking around town yesterday in search of two ponies? They said they were professors from Canterlot who had a couple missin' students. They came to the farm last night."

"Oh yeah! Proffessors Sanders and Hewitt. They came to me yesterday morning, and I said I'd keep a look out. I bumped into them that night as I was coming back from the market, and they said they'd received news they found them. They were off for Canterlot before I could ask them anything else. It was quite strange, but I'm sure if you lost two students you'd be a little off balance as well."
Applejack nodded and fell back to her brother. 
"They found 'em, Mac."

"Eeyup. Ah heard."

"Ah jes hope they were tellin' the truth is all."
------------------------------------------

Jake rubbed his front hooves together and blew into them, hoping to keep warm. They had been stranded in the plane for seven hours now, and the temperature was dropping quickly. With no winter gear to go outside, all they could do was wait. The feeling of helplessness scared him. He had let his crew down, and himself as well. 
He stood up from the floor and walked into the cockpit. He grabbed a copy of a spiral bound book titled: The C-130 Referencer. This book had everything from the horsepower of the engines to the correct bolt size for the door hinges. He flipped through the pages and found the thickness of the fuselage wall. Only a quarter inch on the belly and it increases to 1/2 on the sides and top. Being that it was made from aluminum he did the math in his head, and figured that it could keep most of the heat in for a good 24 hours at best. Then the temperature inside would equal out to the one outside. They'd have problems then. 
Klauss came into the cockpit holding a blanket. 
"You want an extra, Jake? I found a couple more in another compartment under the floor."
The pilot shook his head. 
"No thanks. Give it to her." he pointed in the direction of Sienna, who was still unconscious on the floor, wrapped in blankets. 
"Ok, then." he said.
Jake walked out after awhile to find his crew sitting in a circle towards the back of the plane, blankets and seat cushions wrapping them. He was lucky that he never took them out of the lower compartments. They definitely needed them. They weren't so much blankets as they were large dark green insulator pads to hang on precious cargo and keep it warm. Nonetheless, they worked perfectly. 
The three crew members sat around a hatch to one of the compartments in the floor. There, Macluma had been laid due to his severe injuries. The box he was in was lined with the insulators, and shut with one on top. This was the warmest place in the plane at that moment, and collectively they decided that Macluma should get it. 
"What do we do now, Jake?" Sleethoof said. "I realize going anywhere is out of the question. Even with these blankets, they won't protect us like standard gear can. I was thinking we could make a small fire right here. Burn the books and manuals in the cockpit."

"That'd last for maybe ten minutes." Kline said. "Besides, this plane is pressure sealed. There's nowhere for the smoke to go. You can open a hatch, sure. But that'd just let out more heat than the fire is putting out."

"He's right." Jake said. "We need to think about this. A search party is possible, you know. Many ponies knew where we were. I'm sure word got around that we didn't get back to Ponyville yet. For now, we wait. If you want to build a small fire, use the wood off the jump seat bottoms, and start it with the manuals up front. Don't burn the one titled The C-130 Referencer. That has every spec and fact there is about this plane. I may have been flying this for a long time, but even I forget stuff once and awhile."
Klauss and Kline got up and began to work on building a fire. 
"Oh." Jake turned around once more. "Be careful with the flames. This is a plane, you know. Not a campsite."
He walked up front to where Sienna lay, and sat down next to her. He checked her vitals. There was a steady pulse, and constant breathing. He'd saved some of their rations for her. In every survival kit, there was enough dry food and bottled water to last for a couple days. However, divided by six of them, even if Macluma wasn't in any condition to eat, it'd last for maybe one. 
He looked at her, then back over to the compartment Macluma laid in. 
"Why were you two out here?" He whispered to himself. 
Just then, the green pegasus stirred. Her eyelids cracked open the slightest bit. 
"W...what happened?" She groggily asked. Jake stood up. 
"You're safe here. Don't worry." He said. 
To the pilot, her injuries weren't severe at all. She was just extremely fatigued and cold, which caused her to pass out. He didn't worry too much when she attempted to stand up. He grabbed her shoulder and helped the pegasus gain her balance. 
Sienna opened her eyes fully for the first time, and rubbed the sleep out of them. She looked around at the dimly lit metal interior of the plane. Small rays of sunlight streaked through the windows, giving them just enough light to maneuver around safely.
She looked over to Jake, now becoming more aware of her surroundings. 
"Who are you?" She asked. 

"I'm Captain Jake Weston, and this is my crew. Kline, Klauss, and Sleethoof." He pointed to the three, who had now stopped their tasks to come and see how she was doing. 
"O...ok." She stammered. "How long have I been out?"

"Since last night." Klauss said. We pulled you and your friend out of the snow after-."
He was cut off by the pegasus gasping and frantically running around the fuselage in search. 
"Where is he?! Where is Macluma?!"
Jake approached her and calmer her down. 
"He's fine. We put him in an insulated box where he'd keep warm until he recovered. We did our best to mend him with what we had in our first aid kit, and in my opinion, he seems stable. I'm not a doctor, of course, but I have had medical training in order to become a pilot. He looks fine to me. Just banged up pretty good. Last night was a different story. We didn't have too much hope for him. He pulled through though."

"Can I see Macluma?" She asked. 

"Of course. Sleethoof, show um..."

"Sienna." She said. 

"Yes, Sienna, to the compartment, please."
She followed the grey earth pony over to the hatch, and he opened it. 
There laid Macluma, breathing steady with bandages wrapping his snout, and front right hoof. His cutie mark had been covered as well on both sides due to excessive burning. 
Jake joined the two and looked down. 
"Like I said. He's stable as of now, and that's the warmest place to put him. We'll just have to wait and see what happens."
Sienna walked over to her blanket, Jake in tow, and laid down. 
"This is all my fault. I pushed him to do it."

"Do what?" Jake asked curiously. 
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Kline laughed from their makeshift fire pit in the back, overhearing their conversation. 
"Please. We just were knocked out of the sky by a giant lightning bolt that rose up from the ground and cut off all our power. I think we're ready to believe just about anything."
Jake chucked too. 
"Yeah, we really got hit hard. I've never seen anything like it. So anyways, what happened to Macluma?"
Sienna just stared at him, jaw-dropped. 
"Is everything ok? You look a little pale now." He inquired. 

"I...uh. A lightning bolt?"
Jake nodded. 
"Yeah a huge one! It rose right out of the clouds and struck us blind. We crashed here after losing power and everything. At least we found you two in the midst if this. You guys wouldn't have lasted much longer out there."
Klauss, eyeing Sienna the whole time, approached the two with suspicion. 
"Sienna, do you know anything about the lightning bolt?" he asked. "I mean, you two were on the ground in the general area of where it came up, surely you'd have seen something unusual. Am I right?"
Sienna darted her eyesight between Jake and Klauss, getting very nervous. Would they hate her if she told the truth? Would they even be allowed to stay with them after knowing that they were the reason for all of this?
Despite her internal conflicts, truth trumped over all. She would tell them everything. 
------------------------------------------

Outside, the wind and snow picked up, leaving minimal visibility. To a certain orange pegasus, a large aircraft was easy enough to spot. 
"There it is! That idiot's electric charge led us right to him."
Hertz laughed. 
"The boss is gonna be happy this time!"
A large black stallion in a camouflaged white overcoat and hat walked up behind them. He spoke in a baritone voice similar to Binary's. 
"Why did you two stop? We need to keep moving."

"No we don't." Hertz smirked and pointed in the direction of the crashed C-130.
"There's our two runaways right there."

"How do you know they're in there?" He asked, squinting to see the object ahead. 

"The locator spells we used took us directly to this spot where the bolt of energy was cast up. I'm sure they're in that thing over there. It's the only shelter for miles."
He eyed the aircraft for a minute, then nodded. 
"Ok then. Initiating operation Take-Down." 
He took out a small button clicker from his pocket and pressed it. A couple seconds later, twenty or so highly trained stallions in white camo came out of the snowy gusts and passed the three, slithering towards the plane in dead silence. Binary donned a devious smile. 
"I've got you two now."