//------------------------------// // Danger at 30,000 ft // Story: HUMAN World // by Razalon The Lizardman //------------------------------// “Ooh ooh ooh! Look at this girls!” “Candy, shush!” Twilight said, eyes darting all around the group, checking for any curious onlookers. Seeing none, she relaxed and continued with a stern glare at her hyperactive friend. “We’re still trying to avoid attracting attention, remember? Especially now, given where we are.” “Ooh right, my bad,” Pinkie said, stifling a giggle, and returned her attention to the mobile device. Twilight took another look around the gate’s waiting area, frowning slightly at how many humans there were. As far as she could see, every other seat was occupied by a human, either reading a newspaper or engaged with their own mobile device or some other simple pleasure as they waited to board the plane, while a few busied themselves with some slot machines a little ways away. The gate was jam packed with travelers, and the only row of unoccupied seats the ponies had found was situated near the center of the waiting area, with a good number of humans surrounding them on all sides. The only comfort any of the ponies had in being so close to potential exposure was the fact that the chatter of noise from everyone was sufficiently loud enough that they could talk amongst each other with little worry of being overheard, provided they kept it low enough. “Look at what?” Rainbow asked, craning her neck to see the mobile device’s screen. “I found some more artwork of us!” Pinkie said, turning the device so the others could see the screen. On it was displayed an entire page’s worth of artwork featuring them and the rest of their friends. Some showed them as themselves, others as humans, and others still as weird and — in some cases — creepy hybrids of the two. Twilight seemed unfazed by the pictures, while Rainbow’s reaction shifted between confusion, impressedness, and disgust at the different pictures. Rarity, having already seen a picture herself, was mostly unfazed by the sight, though, she still felt a little repulsed by the thought of her pristine white coat being replaced by such drab clothes when she was positive she’d look just as ravishing without them as a human as she did as a pony. “Neat huh?” Pinkie finished, smiling wide. Rainbow shrugged. “I guess.” “And I even found some songs!” She fiddled with the stylus for a bit on the screen, eventually bringing up an artist’s depiction of Nightmare Moon, a triangle within a circle set into the center. She then pressed the triangle, and after a second of loading the video played out in its entirety. While the ponies had a bit of trouble hearing it over the din of chatter throughout the terminal, they could still make out the song’s lyrics. “Well, that was… uh, interesting, I guess?” Twilight said, arching a confused brow. “I do admire the classical rhythm,” Rarity commented with a smile. “Meh, it’s alright, if you’re into that kinda thing,” Rainbow said, sounding as casual as her force of will allowed her to after hearing ‘such an awesome piece of music’. “Yeah, that was nice,” Twilight said, some of her anxiety lifting upon hearing the beautiful music. “Though, it’s kinda odd that there’d be a song dedicated to Nightmare Moon, of all ponies, in there.” “Oh, that isn’t the only song I found!” Pinkie said, and began fiddling again with the device. She brought up another video screen, this one showing an artist’s rendition of Discord. She pushed play, and this video also played out in its entirety, the ponies again having to strain a little to hear the lyrics. “Well, that was… also odd.” Twilight rolled her eyes and turned away. “Actually, it doesn’t surprise me whatsoever. Only a song about Discord could be so inconsistent with its instrumentation.” “Indeed,” Rarity agreed. “Although, it still had a nice rhythm, even if the lyrics were rather, shall we say… bleak?” “Are there any songs about me in there!?” Rainbow asked, excitedly bouncing in her seat, only to calm down upon noticing Twilight staring pointedly at her, to which she relaxed and leaned closer to Pinkie. “I’ll bet there’s all kinds of songs about how awesome I am.” “Not from what I’ve seen, and trust me, I’ve searched this entire thing like a bagillion and ten times.” Pinkie gave the device a scrutinizing glare as she began fiddling around with it some more. “I can’t find anymore songs about anyone we know, including us!” Interesting… "Attention passengers. Flight 413 from Vegas to Raleigh is now boarding. Repeat. Flight 413 from Vegas to Raleigh is now boarding." “That’s our flight, girls,” Twilight said. Instead of getting up to go to the gate along with all the other passengers, however, she gestured for them all to lean in close, which they did. “Remember, no conversation whatsoever with anyone on the flight. If we’re served anything, politely decline without saying anything. The absolute last thing we want is to cause a ruckus thirty-thousand feet in the air, and it’s extremely critical we make it to Raleigh now, because we won’t get another chance. Clear?” The other three nodded their affirmation. “Good.” She pressed a hoof to her chest and slowly pushed away while exhaling. “Then we should be good to go.” She got up and began walking toward the gate, her friends following close behind. "Attention passengers! We are now approaching Canterlot Station! Please be ready to depart in an orderly fashion if this is your stop!" “‘Bout time we arrived,” Applejack muttered from her spot by the cabin’s window. Outside, the sun was just cresting over the horizon, the morning sky almost finished with its transition from inky black to light blue. Bags lined her eyes as she gazed outside, and once or twice she almost fell asleep, but managed to keep herself alert through sheer force of will. Fluttershy and Spike lay on the seat next to her, both half asleep but alert enough to have heard the announcement. They both stood up together and, after taking a moment to stretch their sore joints, turned to face Applejack. “What a night,” Spike said, suppressing a yawn. “Yep.” Applejack cracked her neck a few times and turned back to them. “Jus’ a little bit longer, y’all. We’ll be there soon enough.” Fluttershy opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when, to Applejack and Spike’s shared horror, her bag shifted slightly on the seat, causing the pegasus to panic and unzip the bag. She buried her head and a hoof inside and began speaking while shifting her hoof around, her muffled voice indecipherable to her friends, but a faint buzzing sound could be heard clearly from inside the bag which sent small chills up their spines. “Uh, Shy?” Applejack said, no small amount of uneasiness in her tone. “What’re ya talkin’ to?” After a few additional seconds of speaking into her bag, Fluttershy zipped it back up and turned to face her friends. “Oh, it’s nothing, really.” Her lips lifted into a sinister, almost maniacal smile. “Just a little surprise for our host when we get there,” she finished, darkly. Applejack gave the bag a curious glance. “What kind of surprise?” Fluttershy’s grin returned to her usual kindred, genuine smile. “Wait and see,” she replied, her tone cheerful once again. “I don’t know whether to be scared or excited at what it turns out to be,” Spike commented with a frown. “Me neither, Spike,” Applejack agreed, adjusting her hat while taking another look at the bag. “Me neither.” “Can I get you some juice or milk?” the stewardess asked, gesturing to the food cart with her head, as she kept both hands gripped firmly on it. Twilight merely shook her head, as did Rainbow Dash beside her, which was all the stewardess needed to leave them alone and repeat her question to Rarity and Pinkie in the seats directly opposite from them, whom also shook her heads no. “Hopefully that’ll be it as far as communication with them is concerned,” Twilight whispered to herself, though Rainbow still picked up on it. “Yeah,” she agreed with a nod, before sparing a glance out the window next to her, getting a glimpse of the vast green countryside the plane was flying miles above. “You sure you don’t want the window seat? The view’s pretty awesome.” Twilight shook her head again. “No thanks,” she replied. She then craned her neck to look over the seats in front of her before swiveling her head around to take in sight of the entire cabin. Just like in the airport, almost every single seat was occupied by a human. Though she could only see the tops of their heads, and sometimes not even that, a sense of discomfort remained within her that kept her stomach tied up. She blamed the utter quietness permeating the cabin. No concrete instructions had been given saying the passengers were required to stay quiet throughout the flight, and yet that’s what everyone had opted to do. In order to keep attention away from themselves, Twilight and her friends had to stay quiet as well, but the temptation to shout or stomp her hooves or do anything to create enough noise to distract her from the fact that she was over thirty thousand feet above the ground was gaining traction in her mind. I wonder if Pinkie’s losing her mind right now? Twilight looked across the aisle to see that her pink friend was looking as chipper as ever, staring down at her tablet with a large grin while Rarity was curled up in her seat, eyes closed in an a supposed attempt at sleep. That’s what I need: a good distraction. After a quick search to make sure no one else was staring in her direction, Twilight leaned forward and plucked the safety pamphlet in the seat pocket in front of her with her teeth. She unfolded it, and began studiously poring over its safety procedures, committing each and every one to memory should a corresponding emergency arise. Meanwhile, across the aisle from her, past the dozing Rarity, Pinkie Pie was fully enraptured with the mobile device, pushing all the various touch-based buttons to see what kinds of goodies they’d lead her to. Ooh, that’s a lot of dolls and stuff that looks like us. That’d be so awesome if ponies made stuff like this back home that me and the girls could put on our shelves. We’d have our own little mini selves to play and have fun with! Oh wait, Fluttershy would probably be too scared about having a doll that looks exactly like her around. Come to think of it, those things would be kinda creepy, especially at night, and really spooky if they’re sitting straight across from bed with their eyes open and looking right at you… Meh, what else is there? Ooh, ‘Pinkie Pie R34’, that sounds co– Pinkie’s thoughts were interrupted when she felt something lightly knock against her head, which was accompanied by a flurry of surprised shouts and screams that sounded throughout the cabin. Next to her, Rarity woke up with a start, shouting panicked ramblings before her eyes settled on the breathing apparatus dangling from the ceiling in front of her, identical to the one in front of Pinkie, as well as all the rest hanging from the ceiling in front of every passenger. In her surprise, Twilight dropped the safety pamphlet to the cabin floor, while Rainbow turned away from the window and craned her neck to look out over the cabin, panic and concern both clear in her eyes. Eventually, the attention of everyone focused forward when the flight attendant’s voice came over the intercom. ”Attention passengers! Please remain calm and seated! Put your oxygen masks on completely over your mouth and nose!" All throughout the cabin passengers followed the flight attendant’s instructions. They worked to strap their provided masks over their faces before breathing in the provided oxygen. Soon the only sounds which could be heard were a hundred odd person’s deep breathing, and the distant sound of the plane’s engines outside. Rainbow reached for her mask as well, only to have her hoof gently pushed aside by Twilight. “Not yet,” she said. “Why?” Looking across the aisle, Twilight saw Rarity and Pinkie were just about to strap their respective masks on. She softly whispered their names, quickly drawing their attention. “Don’t put your masks on just yet,” she instructed. “Why not?” Rarity mouthed back. Twilight didn’t answer straight away. She first cast a brief glance both ways down the aisle, checking for flight attendants. Seeing no one coming down the aisle, she turned to look at all of her friends and began explaining. “The only reason for oxygen masks is a lack of atmospheric pressurization. Because we’re so high up, we’d normally be starved for air were it not for this plane’s compressed supply of it. If we’re getting oxygen masks, that means the atmosphere in the cabin here should be incredibly thin. But it isn’t; we’ve been breathing just fine ever since we took off. The last thing we want is to waste our limited supply of oxygen if there is a leak somewhere. Until we start finding it difficult to breathe, we need to hold off on using our masks. Otherwise, we’ll risk being overcome by hypoxia if things don’t get better before our oxygen supply runs out.” Rarity and Pinkie shared a glance with each other, uncertainty clear in their features. Seeing this, Rainbow leaned closer to them, forcing Twilight to lean back a little in her seat. “You heard the egghead,” she whispered, to which Twilight rolled her eyes. “Don’t put them on until she says so.” Rarity and Pinkie stayed silent as they nodded before taking off their masks, letting them dangle from the ceiling by their heads. All around them, the chorus of steady breaths from every human in the cabin continued, their limited oxygen being wasted. “You think we should tell everyone else?” Rainbow said to Twilight. She peeked over the back of her seat, to which her face fell into a concerned frown. “I know I don’t need to tell you that hypoxia is serious biz.” Twilight seemed to sink into her seat a little, her face a mask of hesitation as she silently debated whether to do as Rainbow suggested. If they told everyone what the situation really was, they’d attract unwanted attention to themselves and risk exposing themselves. But the potential consequences for saying nothing tore her up inside, and the part of her that cared for her creations screamed at her to keep them safe. “Hey, Twila?” Rainbow asked, nudging the alicorn. “What do we do?” Twilight looked across the aisle to Rarity and Pinkie, who’s apparently overheard their exchange, as they were staring at her with anticipatory expressions. She then looked down the aisle both ways, to all the humans breathing their masks, before returning to sitting upright in her seat. For what seemed like the longest time, her mind went somewhere else as the debate over what to do raged on within. Both sides had both equal merit and risk, and as the debate continued, the more clear it was to Twilight that, no matter what she did, she’d end up regretting her decision after the fact. “I… no, we’re…” She shook her head, then took a deep breath, closing her eyes as a solemn expression fell over her face. Rainbow stared at her for a moment, confused, before realization gradually dawned on her and she softly patted Twilight’s withers. “Don’t sweat it, Twi. No matter what happens, I won’t hold anything against you, and I know Maria and Candy feel the same way.” Twilight sighed, and looked up at her with a small smile. “Thanks, Jenny.” “Don’t mention it,” she replied with a casual wave of her hoof. A slight frown crossed her lips as she peeked her head over the seat again. “You think we’ll be alright, though?” “We’ll get to the goal no matter what happens, forcing our way there if push comes to shove.” She sighed again. “So much for stealth if that happens.”