//------------------------------//
// Too Far Gone 
// Story: Detour: The Road to Uprise 
// by Jetset0099 
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       "That's what I was telling him today! He wouldn't stop pestering me about all the work that needed to be done to prepare for his 'amazing arrival'. I'll tell you what some celebrities are just so full of themselves."
Seline picked up her mug of coffee and took a long sip. Jake, eyeing her from across the table, nodded and smiled. 
"He seems like a tough pony to deal with. Thinks he's the center of the universe and whatnot."
They sat in the corner table of a coffee house in town. It was the last time to spend together before Seline went off to her meeting in Canterlot. 
"So it looks like I'll be a bachelor for this week, huh?" he smirked. Seline shook her head with a stern look upon her face. 
"You may be one, but that doesn't mean you can act like one, you hear?"

"What?" He held up his hooves in confusion. "I was gonna buy a keg of cider from Mac and drink from a funnel. Or maybe fly over to Manehattan and hit a couple clubs, go to the casinos, maybe get a hotel room and try to-"
He was slugged on the shoulder from across the little table. He chuckled a bit, making her roll her eyes and smile. 
"Well seems like you'll be having a fun week, Jake."
The little window by their table rattled ever so slightly. Jake glanced over, then back at Seline. 
"Yep. You know it. In reality I'll just be sitting around like a rock, waiting for you to come back. No productivity whatsoever."

"Awh don't say that, Jake. You're flying soon, aren't you? Something about the Crystal Empire,  I heard. That should be exciting!"
The window rattled again. He ignored it this time and shrugged. 
"They're probably gonna cancel it. There were talks of some storms coming through our flight path. It's still on hiatus. If we do go though, it'll be interesting. A centerpiece for the new park in the city is what we're hauling. Heavy as hell and very fragile. I'm sure the crew can handle it though."
Seline looked over to the clock. It was quarter 'till ten. 
"My train leaves in fifteen minutes. I better get over to the station." She stood up and picked up her briefcase. "I'll see you in probably a week. I'll let you know as soon as I know for sure when I'll be home. You never know what can happen at these things!" She winked, causing him to raise an eyebrow. 
"The hell is that supposed to mean?"
She laughed as he stood up and gave her a kiss. She walked towards the door of the shop, and turned back to the pilot. 
"I really hope I'll see you again."
Jake was taken aback. 
"What? What do you mean 'hope'?"
The small window by the table shattered with a piercing bang, and the wind swirled around the coffee house. Seline just stood there by the door, staring at him and smiling while his body was whipped around by the gale. Snow began filling up the room, and within seconds, his view was nothing but a white abyss, Seline's image blocked by the torrent. 
Jake's eyes shot open. He was laying on his side on the floor of his plane, and he saw the huge hole in the side of the fuselage. He tried to let out a scream, but nothing came out. His body was frozen, and he could barely move his legs without incredible pain. Mustering up the strength he still had left, he managed to unstick his body from the icy metal floor, and roll over to face the rear of the plane. He shut his eyes when he saw Klauss' lifeless body lying there, an icy harpoon protruding from his chest. Jake could even see the frozen icicle of blood that had formed at the tip of the apparatus. 
The memory of it all came back to him. The intrusion, the murder, Sienna...and Macluma. Jake's head painfully snapped up and looked back to the now icy hatch in the rear of the plane. With a groan of pain, he pulled himself up on two legs, straining to stand. The wind from the gash in the fuselage stung his side, and only caused him more excruciating pain. Dragging his right rear leg due to frostbite, he limped towards the door. He stopped at Sleethoofs body lying on the ground, grey mane frozen and hanging down in little icicles. 
"Sleethoof!...Sleethoof come on and get up!" He didn't move at all. "Sleethoof, damnit get up!" He kicked him, and the jar made him helplessly fall onto his crew member. The blunt impact of Jake's body jerked Sleethoof awake. He wheezed and yelled in pain. 
"Aaaaahhhggg! Get off me! Get off me!" Jake rolled off and laid next to him. Completely wiped of energy. He looked over and patted him on the back. 
"You don't know how happy I am to see you alive, Sleethoof. Don't give up on me now! We..." He caught his feeble breath, having to speak up over the icy gale outside. "We have to see if Macluma is still alive!"
Sleethoof closed his eyes and shook his head with anger. 
"What's the point, Jake! We're gonna die out here!" They were both yelling now as the wind picked up even more. 
"What's the point?!" He asked. "The point is that I didn't come all this way just to give up now! We survived for a matter of days on this plane in the harshest conditions known to Equestria. I'll be damned if I die now just because of some thugs and their weapons!" 
He winced as the frostbite set into his face. Sleethoof scoffed at his remark. 
"Jake, you know I've always respected what you've had to say, but I have to disagree with you here, buddy. Listen to yourself! They took Sienna, they killed Klauss, we don't even know if Kline is alive over there yet, and Macluma is most likely dead! We're exposed in a tundra, and frostbite has set in too far already! Face it, this is the end of the line for us. This is where we get off."
Jake stared at his crew-mate. Was this how it ended? He had always thought there'd be more. Oh, how he took life for granted, he thought. Just assuming that everyday would lead to the next without end. He finally saw it all clearly now. He finally understood what it meant to live in the moment and realize the true reality of the situation at hand. This was it. 
"I gotta say," he yelled, "it was one hell of a ride, Sleethoof. If this is how we die, I'm damn well pleased it's next to you. However, we need to see if Kline is still alive. If he's going out too, it's only right that he isn't alone."

"I can't move, Jake. My legs are numb and frozen. Just go without me."
Jake lumbered upright again, his back leg hurting worse than before he fell. He reached out his hoof and grabbed Sleethoof's. 
"We're doing this together. One last mission as a crew."
Against the pain and agony his muscles were producing, he leaned back and pulled the large stallion upright. He stumbled back down to his knees and screamed between his gritted teeth. His kneecaps were bleeding from being brittle and torn open, and the blood was sticking and freezing to his legs. 
"Come on Sleethoof! This is a direct order from your captain! Get up!"
He pulled again, and this time, Sleethoof rose, and maintained his balance. Jake allowed him to lean on his shoulder, and they lumbered back towards the hatch where Kline lay frozen, just behind his twin's lifeless body. They both fell over in front of him. Sleethoof lightly shook his head. 
"Kline? Kline! Wake up!"

"I feel a slow pulse." Jake said as he reached out to him. Kline didn't move. 
"Kline!" Sleethoof shouted. "Wake up, buddy!"
No response. Finally, Sleethoof lost it. He swung his front hoof around, striking the blue stallion on the side of the head. 
"Kline I know you're still alive! Wake the hell up!" 
Jake held his hoof back as tears began streaming down his face and freezing instantly to the metal floor. 
"He's too far gone, Sleethoof. He's too far gone."
Jake leaned in and tried holding back tears himself. 
"Kline, if you can hear me in there, I just wanted you to know that it was an honor working with you. Klauss and Sleethoof as well. You'll be seeing us soon, I promise. Klauss is waiting for us up there. Everything will make sense soon." He racked his brain as his own consciousness slipped. "Look on the bright side. We're a flight crew, we belong in the sky!" Everything began to fade in the corners of his eyes. "Goodbye, Kline." He turned to Sleethoof, and shook his hoof. He straightened his gold wings on his uniform, and tightened his black tie. "No need to make this dramatic." He said sarcastically with a smirk. Sleethoof smiled too. "Always a sense of humor, even in the worst of times." The pain overtook Sleethoof's body with a sharp sting, and he felt like his head was being pushed down by someone else. His muscles were failing. This was it. No questions asked. 
"I'm gonna take a nap now, Jake. I'm a little tired. I'll see you later, ok?"
Jake closed his eyes and smiled. "I'll see you later, Sleethoof." 
With that, the two stallions laid their heads down on the icy floor, and fell asleep. The snow swirled, and three souls mixed within the winds.
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"Over here!"


















"Come on, move it!"


















"Are they okay?!"




















"Four of them! One confirmed dead!"




















"I feel a pulse!"





















"Ah found another one in this hole down here. He looks alive, ah reckon!"



















"I'm preparing the teleportation spell!"


















"Careful with them! Get them over to the spot."




















"The grey one is bleedin' bad!"



















"Ok, that's all of them! Go go go go go!"