//------------------------------//
// Mishaps 
// Story: Of Mail and Wings 
// by Wiz Ahmad 
//------------------------------//

My mind was spinning. I myself was in an inappropriate place, and I didn't have a single clue as to what to do. Should I just leave and get the heck out of here before I was caught and taken to task by Shane, or try to free the trapped creature – whose identity I still didn't know. All my life since I entered the military had been to follow orders and abandon all shady areas of doubt or misunderstanding. It was all point A to point B. Then I looked up at the jet and let my mind's memory scope expand. I reflected back onto my younger days, running through the house with a tiny little toy F-15 Eagle in my hand and almost prodding my mom in the stomach because I had been too wrapped up in my imaginary adventure of saving the world and spinning through the wide open sky. Then a figure appeared in my thoughtful vision: Cinderella. I had watched it with my sister once, and the famous phrase rang clear as the glass slipper of the princess herself: 

"Have courage, and be kind." 

I spun around, knelt down on the cold floor, and pulled a heavy crate off the lowest shelf. Instinctively, the little creature cowered even further back into the corner as I held out my hand through the gap. 

"Come out," I whispered softly. "Come out and be free." 

The little creature carefully eased itself out of its hiding place, and I slowly backed up from the shelving unit. As it crawled over the shelf and onto the hangar floor, I got a better look, and became even more bewildered as to what I had just rescued. 

She stood around three and a half feet tall, with adorable big eyes, a smooth cream white mane, and a blue-and-white one-piece uniform covering her teal blue body. Her proportions reminded me of a small horse, only with a more cartoon-like head. What was she? 

"I wonder if you are actually from a cartoon," I wondered, my lip twisting in confusion. Yet at the same time I tried not to smile. Even in the beat-up state that she currently laid in, the little horse was just so cute. And small horses are... 

"Ponies," I said out loud accidentally, the cards finally matching up in my head. The little pony turned and gazed right back at me, before looking all around. 

"Ow, my wings hurt from that crash," she said. 

"Y-you talk?! And you have wings?" I said suddenly, gulping back a frightful yelp. Gripping myself in time, I leaned forward inquisitively. "What's your name, little one?" 

The little pony nodded. "Name's Fleetfoot, and I'm a pegasus. Where am I?" 

I shook my head, more cards matching up. "Definitely a long way from home, that's for sure. Look, right now, we're in a hangar – a place where we both shouldn't be. Let's get out of here before someone spots either one of us. I'll explain more and we can talk on the way." 

Fleetfoot attempted to walk forward but stumbled and hit the ground in pain, and I winced. 

"I think you may have sprained your front left leg," I told her, bending down. "Come, I'll carry you." 

Fleetfoot climbed up onto my chest and rested her hurt leg on my shoulder. I crossed my arms to support her rear legs and hindquarters. Boy, she was heavier than I thought!  

After a quick check, I walked out towards the hangar entrance, and peeked around. No one to be seen – except the maintenance staff in the next few hangars performing some routine checks on the other aircraft, and some airport vehicles in the distance. 

With a hefty but adorable pony in my arms, I turned around the corner and headed back the way I came. But instead of walking towards the main air force building, I crept around the outside of the buildings to avoid detection. It wasn't myself that I was afraid of being seen; it was Fleetfoot – the one who should not be here under the ever-watchful eyes of the military. 

Tiptoeing around another corner, I trudged alongside an old fence, until I reached a parking lot with a familiar entrance to the right. On the left lay many cars, including Whiz. 

I made my way over to the Subaru and pulled on the door handle, only to realize I left the keys in my army duffel back in the locker area. I walked around to the back of the Subaru and gently lowered Fleetfoot to the ground, and urged her under the Subaru's rear bumper. 

"Stay here, Fleetfoot," I ordered. "I'll be back soon." 

I ran to the building, shoved the doors open, and ran down the halls to the locker room. No one was around – not even Shane. I grabbed my helmet and slid it into the bag. Then I opened a small side compartment, pulled out my car keys, and zipped the whole bag shut. I was about to take off down the hall when a hand clamped down on my shoulder. I leapt forward slightly and spun around, only to come face to face with Steve, who'd been my best friend last year in the physical training camp. 

"Dude," I exhaled. "You could've killed me with that jumpscare." 

Steve let out a short chuckle before his face quickly grew serious again. "Where have you been in the past hour? Shane needs us to regroup to go over the results of our flights!" 

"I thought that data takes days to process!" I protested, a dagger of regret stabbing me hard in the gut. 

Steve shook his head. "Most of the time. He gave out an announcement shortly before you went missing that the session would take place today, and not tomorrow. Now come on, we've got mere seconds before it starts!" 

The knot in my stabbed gut was so big I almost collapsed onto a spare chair as Steve and I sat down for the lengthy session. Shane discussed flight speed, aerial maneuvers, and more for an estimated forty minutes, before proceeding onto flight plans and tips on what would be covered in the next program session. Fighting off the pain of the regretful decision I'd made to check out the hangars, I narrowed my focus onto all of what Shane explained, as well as the message behind his physical postures and tonation, trying not to think of the poor little pegasus hidden behind my car. A million cameras and sensors were everywhere on the base. If someone discovered her... I didn't even want to think of where they'd take her or what they'd do to her. 

As we all made our notes, I proceeded to leave, but was stopped by Shane.  

"Yes, sir?" I replied, trying not to sound sheepish. 

"You seem like a great student," he complimented. "Just... your timing is a teeny bit close to lateness for comfort. Might wanna tune that knob a little." 

"Thanks. I will try my best to align my time, sir," I replied confidently, and took off down the hall to the locker room. 

I was so eager to get back to Whiz I almost tripped in the parking lot. Running to the rear, I knelt down and gently reached out. 

"You okay, Fleetfoot?" I asked, alarmed by the sympathy in my voice. 

"All good..." Fleetfoot paused for a moment, and I knew what she was trying to figure out. 

"Brian," I replied with a smile. 

"Brian," Fleetfoot repeated, nodding slightly and crawling out with her good front leg. I unlocked the rear doors, and she climbed in. I tossed my duffel in the trunk, shut it, hopped into the driver's seat, and drove off towards the exit. I had a long, odd day ahead of me.