After the somewhat long period of sadness finally ended, and Celestia had recomposed herself, her curiosity came forwards again, and she began to ask Taylor about his life on Earth, why he was flying in that kind of weather at all, what it was like flying through a portal, and how he was treated after his arrival. Taylor was all too happy to answer her questions.
"Well, when we began out flight, the sky was only overcast, the storm hadn't started yet. We didn't think that it would prove to be any problems, so when it really did turn nasty, it really caught us off guard. And once I was inside the portal, all I could see was a bright white light, with shades of blue and purple thrown in as well. However, it's very hard to describe, as I've never seen anything like it, and so that put me into a state of shock."
Celestia nodded. "Yes, that would make sense I suppose, with that being such a whole new experience for you. But tell me, what were your first moments in Equestria like?"
"Well, the worst of it after the storm was my crash-landing. The plane already had run out of fuel, and it was plunging towards the ground at a very high rate of speed. I did manage to slow down somewhat, but the crash was still pretty bad. I hit the ground outside of the Everfree Forest, and the plane got severely damaged. I got thrown against the control console, and cut and bruised from that, as well as from the glass that fell on me when the cockpit canopy shattered. I was cut, bruised, bleeding, and overall, I felt like I had just been hit by a train."
"My word!" Celestia exclaimed, that must have been awful; you not knowing if you were going to live or die, terrified and alone! I just thank the Creator that he spared you!"
"I know", Taylor said softly, "Me too. Anyway, when I crashed, I thought that I was still back on Earth. I was almost certain that I had made it back to Florida, but my first thoughts were to get out of the plane, just in case it exploded due to built of gas fumes. I crawled out, collapsed on the ground, and I guess I passed out. When I woke up, I thought that I was on Earth, but when I looked up and saw Nurse Redheart looking back at me, I recoiled in shock!"
Celestia laughed softly at this. Taylor smiled as well, and then he continued his story.
" After I regained my composure, I learned where I was, how badly I was hurt, (which was thankfully minimal) and how I'd been found. Nurse Redheart took very good care of me that night, and when I woke up the next morning, she helped me out to breakfast, and I got to meet some of the other ponies in the hospital. They were very interested in meeting me."
"Yes, I bet they were. It's not every day that someone like you just falls out of the sky. In fact, I don't think that it's ever happened, at least, not during my lifetime anyway."
Taylor nodded. "Yes, it certainly is very unusual. Anyway, while I was eating, Dr. Stables came and told me that I was to be brought here to meet you. After we all got ready, I asked to be taken back to the my plane so that I could retrieve a few items, and so that I could really assess the damage. I then put what I wanted into a cardboard box that I'd brought with me, and just before I left for the train station, I told the ponies in Ponyville to guard the plane until I returned."
"That was nice of you Dear, but it wasn't necessary."
Taylor looked at her curiously. "What do you mean Princess Celestia?"
"Just 'Princess' will do, my sweet, but in answer to your question, while you were on your way here, I sent my best engineers down to Ponyville, and they packed up your plane, as well as any pieces that fell or broke off, put it on the train after yours, and once it arrived, it was moved to a storage area here in the castle. It is being examined, although, that might go slightly better is you were there to help, both to see if it could possibly be put back together again, and if it could, to maybe help make it fly again."
Taylor was absolutely beside himself with shock. "Are you serious?!?! My plane is here?!?!"
Celestia nodded. Taylor had no clue what to say. Finally he said, "Thank you, Princess. You didn't have to do any of this."
"It was my pleasure, my sweet. I've always been interested in other worlds, and your Earth has always held my attention. It will be very nice to have you around, Mr. Taylor. I hope that you enjoy your stay here in Equestria."
"Thank you again Princess! Could you please show me where my plane is, so that I can see how the examinations are coming?"
Celstia nodded. "Certainly. I actually want to see it closer myself. I only got a few quick glimpses of it when it was being moved to that storage area."
They both left the garden, and made their way down to the castle's basement where the plane was being kept.
"Um, why was it put down here?"
"It was put here, because this was the only space large enough to hold it, and where it could be examined, and possibly repaired."
Once they reached the room, Storage Room A113, Celestia entered, and Taylor followed close behind her. Taylor gasped when he saw how big the room was. It was almost as large as a military aircraft hangar! The plane was located in the center of the room, propped up with wooden blocks. The parts that had broken off, (like the left wing and parts of the fuselage) were being examined on workbenches close by. There were about 20 ponies in the room in total, and all of them seemed wholly mystified and baffled by the machine in front of them. They couldn't seem to make heads or tails of it, and one of them even made the potentially fatal mistake of looking down the barrel of the rear machine gun! Luckily for him though, the gun was not loaded, as Flight 19 had been on a training mission Stateside, which didn't require any live rounds. They all stood to attention when Celestia entered.
"At ease, my engineers. I have brought you the pilot of this craft. He's here to assist you in your efforts. If it all goes as I hope it should, this plane may be all repaired soon, and may even be back in the air again. Anyway," Celestia stepped back a bit, "Ok Mr. Taylor, impress me with your knowledge and fix-it skills."
Taylor first examined the engine to make sure that no further fluids were leaking out. Then, once he was convinced that nothing was leaking, he got down, and crawled underneath the right side, and back to examine the wheels. They were still folded into their flight positions, but they appeared to be still intact.
"I'm going to need a few of you to help me. These wheels and their support structures seem to be intact, so I need you to help me lower them down into their landing positions."
"Yes sir."
With their help, Taylor was able to manually crank down the rear wheel, as well as the right main wheel. (The left main wheel was attached to the left wing, which was still sitting on a workbench). Once the wheels were cranked down, it was found that they were still able to hold the plane's weight. Now, Taylor's first real job could begin; seeing if the left wing could be reattached to the main body, and if so, how. He didn't know if the ponies even had any welding equipment. As he was trying to figure this out, some of the engineers were asking him questions.
"What is this thing, and what's it used for?"
"Well, this machine is called an 'airplane'. It was designed for combat, so as to be able to take on an enemy from the air. This particular model, the TBF Avenger Torpedo-Bomber, proved to be an excellent combat plane, and did prove its worth during the Pacific War."
"What does 'TBF' stand for?"
"Now that I really don't know. I'm pretty sure that's it's both its designation, as well as the name of the manufacturer, but don't quote me on that."
"What's a 'torpedo-bomber'?"
"A torpedo is a type of underwater weapon. It was made to propel itself towards a target, hit the target, and then explode on impact. 'bomber' simply means that this plane could be used to drop bombs, which are a high-explosive weapon. 'Torpedo-bomber' simply means that it can drop both bombs, and torpedoes."
As Taylor continued to answer the engineers's questions, he discovered that the wing had broken off where where it would have folded against the body, so that the plane could be stored/moved on an aircraft carrier. It could maybe be bolted back on, but it would also have to be fused back to the main body as well.
"Ok, now I'm going to need the wing brought over to the main body. I'm also going to need 16 strong bolts, some clamps, metal cables to replace control cables that have snapped, a heat source to reattach some electrical wires, as well as a bigger heat source to fuse the wing back onto the body."
The engineers quickly scurried off to get Taylor his supplies. Once he had them, with help, Taylor first took apart parts of the wing and fuselage on the left side, and fully removed the damaged control cables. Then, once they were removed, they were replaced with the new ones. Once the new cables were securely fastened down, the parts of the wing and the inside of the fuselage that were previously removed, were put back into place, and bolted down securely. Now came the first critical step, bolting the base of the wing to the edge of the fuselage.
With the wing being held in place by a winch, and the rest of the plane being supported by both its wheels, as well as wooden blocks to provide balance, the two pieces were brought together again, and bolted securely together. Now came the tricky part, the fusing of the metal.
"Um, you guys wouldn't happen to have any kind of welding equipment here in Equestria, would you?"
"You mean something like this?" One of the engineers held up a metal torch with a wire tip. "It's used to fuse metal together during construction."
Taylor looked at it. "Yes, this will do very nicely."
Before they started welding though, the left wheel was cranked back down as well, and once the blocks were removed, Blue 01 was standing all on her own once again.
"Well, that's something good. Now let's finish the job, and do some welding."
Once they all had gloves, and safety goggles, Taylor turned the torch on, and by the time he turned it off a few minutes later, the wing was as securely attached to the body as it had been the day that the plane was made. Once that was all done, Taylor and the engineers stood back to admire their work.
"Well done guys, this was a fine piece of work. I couldn't have done it without your help."
"You're welcome Mr. Taylor."
"Yes, that was a very fine job, all of you. This plane is well on it's way to being repaired."
Taylor nodded. "Thank you Princess. Now then, let's see what else we can do, shall we?"
The others nodded, and they all got back to work.
By the time that work was stopped for the day, the plane was more than well on its way to looking like it was supposed to. All of its repairable parts had been reattached, including the left wing, all of the internal wiring had been completed, all of the holes on the fuselage had been patched up, all of the glass was cleaned out of the cockpit, and all of the damage to the engine had been stabilized as well. However, there was still much work to be done. The propeller was going to have to be completely re-fabricated from scratch, there wasn't any glass on hand to repair the cockpit canopy, the body, wings, and tail were still scratched, chipped, dented, bent, and warped in places, sometimes severely. There also wan't any fuel or oil for the engine.
"Well everyone, or everypony, whichever you prefer, all of you did some great work today. This plane is well on her way to maybe flying again, or at the very least, as close to that as possible. Again, great job, and I hope to see all of you again very soon."
"Thank you, and goodbye for now Mr. Taylor."
"Goodbye."
After they finished putting their tools away, the plane was covered with tarps, all of them left the storage room, and it was securely locked up again. Taylor then left with Celestia, and the engineers went to report back to their superiors as well.
Also by the end of it, in addition to all of the questions that he'd already been asked, Taylor was also asked, why his plane was painted blue, what its star markings meant, how high it could fly, how fast it could go, how many crew it had, and what the wolf art on the nose, as well as the numbers '01' meant. Once work was over, Taylor was all questioned out.
"Man", he thought to himself as he walked with Celestia, "I knew that ponies were curious, but that many questions? I mean, I know that new technology can be confusing, but still, that was pretty intense! I just hope that the next round of work will go smoother than that."
And with that, he and Celestia went back up into the main castle to rejoin the rest of the group for dinner in the banquet hall.