//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8: From the Hospital, back to the Crash site, and on to Canterlot 
// Story: Bermuda Beginnings 
// by ScarFox9700 
//------------------------------//

Finally, after listening to Redheart until he thought that his head would explode, Taylor finally had enough. He then promptly stood up in the bathtub he was in, wrapped a towel around himself, and after drying himself off, he then went over to the bathroom sink to shave his face. 

After the two nurses had gotten over their shock at Taylor's actions, Redheart took her bath, and did her best to fix her bedhead, and after she was done, Starlight did the same. Finally, by about 11:00, Taylor was dressed in his pilot's uniform, Redheart was done getting ready, all of the necessary essentials had been packed, and Nurse Starlight had all of the luggage sent down to the train station where the doctor would be waiting for them. Just before they left though, Taylor made one last request. 

"Um, before we go to the train station, is there time to go back to my plane's crash site before we leave?" 

"Why would you want to go back there?" Starlight asked. 

"I would like to be able to grab a few personal belongings that I had with me, as well as to really assess the damage." 

"I guess so", Starlight replied, looking up at the clock, "But we'll have to leave right now. Remember, we have to meet the Doctor at the train station at exactly 11:50." 

Taylor nodded, and after grabbing a small cardboard box that he was provided with, he asked to be shown the way. Once the trio was out of the hospital, and out onto the streets of Ponyville, it was just like before; ponies stopped, stared, waved, shrank back, and just plain smiled at the new creature in their midst. Taylor waved back, and said hello and good morning to as many as he could. 

"He's very polite", one of them, a mare named Mara Heartstrings, (future grandmother of Lyra Heartstrings) commented.

"He certainly is", another agreed. (History remembers her as the grandmother of Ditzy "Derpy" Doo.) 

A few of them also followed the trio out to the crash site. 

"There you are old girl" Taylor said when he saw the wreck that used to be his TBF Avenger. When he saw the full extent of the damage however, he was very sad. One of the wings was broken off, the glass canopy was shattered, the propeller was absolutely trashed, and the body was bent in, dented, scratched, and even just plain holed in numerous places as well. 

He touched the side of the plane gently, then he climbed up onto the still attached wing, and after reaching the cockpit, he began to look around inside for the objects that he was looking for, and once he'd found them, he began to place them inside his cardboard box. He grabbed a map, his helmet and flight goggles, his life jacket, a parachute, his compass, a small pencil, a picture of his mother, a small fire extinguisher, as well as his little pocket Bible. 

While Taylor was busy with the cockpit, Redheart notices that the front of the plane had the number 01 on it, as well as some other kind of artwork on it as well.

"Hey Taylor, what's this on the nose?" 

Taylor looked where she was pointing. "Oh, that's just the plane's number, 01, as well as a painting of a sitting wolf."

"What's it mean though?" 

"It just means that my plane, 'Blue 1' was the lead plane in the squadron, and I always felt like a bit of a lone wolf, so when it came time to choose nose art, I just decided to go with a wolf." 

Redheart nodded. "Oh, that makes sense, I guess." 

Once he was done, Taylor climbed down from the plane. He then requested of the ponies standing around that they leave the plane alone for the time being, as well as doing their best to protect it from both the elements, as well as from vandals. A few unicorns were able to create a small magic force field to protect it from the elements, and a few others agreed to stand guard from a distance until Taylor returned from Canterlot. 

"Goodbye old girl", Taylor whispered, patting the painting of the wolf on the nose, "You've served me well through the war years, and you deserve a rest, so rest now, and these nice unicorns will take care of you until I return." 

Taylor then left the plane in the care of the ponies, and he and the two nurses then quickly made their way to the train station. A few minutes later, they arrived, and walked over to where the Doctor was standing with their luggage. 

"Oh there you all are, what took all of you so long?" 

"Well, we all had to finish getting ready, and Taylor wanted to go back to his plane before we arrived so that he could retrieve a few things, but we made it here by 11:50, just like you asked us to." 

The doctor then looked up at the station clock. Sure enough, the time did read 11:50 on the dot. "Well, you're here at any rate, now then, let's just hope that the train is on time. I do not want to be late!" 

While they were waiting, Taylor asked Redheart a few more questions. 

"So, are trains the most advanced form of transportation that you have in this world?"

"Yes", Redheart replied." 

"Well, on Earth we have trains like this as well, but we also have vehicles called 'automobiles' that move along the ground. We also have airplanes. The one that I have was built for military purposes, but many others were made to carry people and cargo." 

A whistle then sounded in the distance. The doctor then looked up at the station clock again. Noting the time to be exactly 11:59, he then turned to the others. 

"Well, here comes our train. This should get us to Canterlot by 3:00, and that should give us ample time to settle in, and get ourselves ready for our meeting with the princess at 4:00." 

Once the train pulled into the station, Taylor did his best to help the conductor get all of the bags and other luggage for not only his group, but everypony else's as well, onto the train. He worked as fast as he could, but it was hard for him, as he could only carry two bags at a time. Eventually though, everything was loaded, and by 12:05, the train was ready to leave. Everypony, and Taylor, were all in their seats, and at the conductor's signal, the engineer blew the whistle, and the train pulled out of the station. 

"Don't worry mares and gentlecolts" The conductor assured them, "We started a few minutes late, but we'll soon make up for lost time. We will arrive in Canterlot by exactly 3:00 on the dot, or my name isn't All Aboard!" 

Taylor looked at the conductor. He was a very young-looking Earth-pony stallion, with blue fur, golden eyes, and a black mane and tail. He looked so young, that Taylor wondered if he was even old enough to be a conductor. "Maybe he's a trainee or something, or maybe he's just older than he looks", he thought. At any rate, Taylor could see that he knew his job well, and he saw a bright future for the young stallion. 

The train ride to Canterlot was very uneventful, but Taylor had a hard time trying to take in all of the scenery. It was so new and unfamiliar, but at the same time, so incredibly beautiful and tranquil, that he was almost overwhelmed. 

Redheart saw the look on his face. "Taking in all of the beauty?" 

Taylor nodded. "Yeah. This all reflects the beauty of God's creation so perfectly, and this whole world just reflects the work of His hands." 

Redheart then asked Taylor a very serious question. "So I take it, given that you mention him so much, that you worshiped the Creator back on Earth?" 

Taylor sighed. "I guess so. After what I saw in the aftermath of the Second World War though, my faith in God was badly shaken. I've been praying though that He would show me a way through the fog of doubt, and I guess that my prayers were answered.

Taylor and Redheart spent the rest of the trip talking about this, as well as events from their previous lives, both on Earth, and in Ponyville. 

Later, at exactly 3:00pm, the train arrived in Canterlot. 

"See mares and gentlecolts, what did I tell you? Arriving in Canterlot at exactly 3:00 on the dot. You're welcome!" 

Once the train had finished pulling into the station, Taylor once again helped to unload everypony's luggage, and once he was done with that, the Doctor hired a porter, who pulled a cart with all of their belongings inside of it. Before long, they were all walking through the streets of Canterlot. Taylor marveled at its beauty.

"I still can't believe that the architects and engineers who designed this place were actually able to design and build a metropolis of this size on the side of a mountain! And not only that, but they made it both remarkably stable, and incredibly beautiful as well. How did they do it?" Taylor was trying to picture Canterlot under construction in his head. 

"Well" the doctor answered, "Nopony knows for sure, but according to existing archive records, the unicorns who did were some of the smartest ponies in Equestrian history. They built it for the first princess, and it's been a thriving city; a center for art, science, culture, and beautiful libraries ever since." 

Taylor was stunned. "Wow, you ponies are the most remarkable species I've ever seen. If only the equines back on Earth could do even a fraction of this!" 

"Yes, and I've been meaning to ask you about that", the doctor continued, "What are the ponies on Earth like?" 

"Well", Taylor answered slowly, "They look kind of like you, except that they only have fur that's brown, golden, grey, roan, black, tan, or a combination of the above colors. They're also somewhat smaller than you" (Taylor could look the doctor in the eye, and he was 5'8"), "They can't talk, and they don't have wings and horns either. However, they are very smart, and they help us humans with our work around our farms, and others are even ridden by humans, both for pleasure, and sometimes for competitions." 

The conversation continued along these lines all the way to the gates of the castle. Once they arrived at the gates, the guards stopped them, and asked that they state who they were, and what their business was. the doctor did all of the talking. 

"I am Doctor Stables, Head Doctor of the Ponyville General Hospital. This is my assistant, Nurse Starlight, behind me is Nurse Redheart, and next to her, is Mr. Charles Taylor, the human that Princess Celestia requested that I bring before her today." 

When they looked at Taylor, the guard's eyes nearly popped out of their heads! They had never seen a creature quite like Taylor, and they didn't quite know what to make of him either. Taylor saluted them however, and they did salute back. 

For security reasons, the guards did search through all of their luggage. They were all quite baffled however when the looked through Taylor's cardboard box, as they had no clue what most of what its contents was. Taylor had to tell them what everything was, what it was for, and most importantly, if it could be dangerous. When one of them looked at the fire extinguisher, he almost triggered it, but fortunately for him, Taylor stopped him in the nick of time! 

After the examinations were complete, the castle porters took the luggage, loaded it onto another cart, and pulled it along behind them. Taylor was absolutely awed when he stepped over the threshold, and found himself in the main hall of the castle. Taylor whistled softly. 

"What was that for?" Redheart asked him. 

"Hmm? Oh, that was just a whistle of awe. I just can't get over this decor. It's a masterpiece so perfect, that it would make Rembrandt, Vangogh, DaVinci, and Michelangelo jealous!" Noting the looks of puzzlement of those around him, Taylor added, "Famous painters, artists, and sculptors in Earth's history." 

Once they had all been shown to their quarters in the castle's East Wing, there was still about 30 minutes until they were due to meet the princess. Taylor stepped out onto his balcony and took in the view. 

"Like it?" a voice behind him asked.

Taylor turned around, and to his delight, Nurse Redheart was standing behind him. 

"It's incredible",  he admitted, "But what's that though?" He asked, pointing to what appeared to be a massive cloud, with liquid rainbow spectrum flowing over its edges, in addition to what appeared to be buildings made of clouds as well. 

"Oh, that's Cloudsdale, the central city of the Pegasai. A very beautiful city, I'm told." 

"An entire city in the clouds, made out of clouds?! Man! I wish those architects and engineers who designed and built these places could come to Earth! Just imagine what they might accomplish!" 

Redheart laughed quietly at Taylor's shock. "Yeah, no kidding, I would like to see what they could create as well." 

And so, with that, the two of them continued talking about this, until their last 30 minute window was up, and they were due to meet the princess.