//------------------------------//
// Chapter 16: Public Announcements, Just (Air)Plane work, and a Planning a Trip to the Farm 
// Story: Bermuda Beginnings 
// by ScarFox9700 
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After this brief, but extremely powerful moment was over, Taylor pointed out that the time was almost 6:00am. 

"Oh Goodness, it's almost 6:00am! We've practically been up all night!" 

Celestia looked at the clock as well. "Oh my! It is indeed! I must get to raising the sun so that the day can begin!" 

The hug ended, and while Celestia went to raise the sun, Taylor stayed back with Tinker. He suddenly snickered a bit.

Taylor looked at him. "What was that for?" 

"I like your pants, but maybe you should stop buying from thrift stores!" 

Now Taylor was really confused. "What? What are you talking about?" 

He pointed to Taylor's robe and slippers. "Because it looks like those were 'half off'!" 

Tinker then proceeded to start laughing. Taylor then looked down at his robe and slippers, and realized why Tinker was laughing. Because of his hurry to get to the Princess earlier that evening, Taylor didn't realize that his robe and slippers were made for a stallion, not a human. The robe's sleeves ended just past his elbows, and if he hadn't been wearing a shirt underneath,  his midriff would have been showing as well. His feet were also hanging off the backs of the slippers as well. 

"Come on, knock it off Tinker! It's not that funny! I put these on in such a hurry as you really needed me to come and see what Celestia wanted. These were what was provided for me, however, I see now that yes indeed, they will have to be properly tailored to fit me. I do like these styles though, so I think I'll just take this robe and slippers to have them redone." 

By this point, the moon had been lowered, and the sun was now raised. As Celestia walked back into the room, she heard the last part of Taylor's statement, and saw why Tinker had been laughing. 

"Oh dear! Yes, I can see now that clothing meant for stallions cannot fit a human off-the-shelf. However, yes, if you do like that robe and slippers, I can send them to be refitted, provided of course that you come along to give the tailor your measurements." 

Taylor nodded. "Yes, I think that I can find time today to do that." However, as he was thinking about that, another thought struck him. "Um, Princess, I just thought of something. Now that you and Tinker know about the punishments for Sin, how do we tell the rest of Equestria about it?" 

Celestia thought about that for a moment. "Well", she said slowly, "I have given messages to all of my subjects at once before using a special spell, so I guess that I'll just do it the same way again." She then looked out towards the balcony again. "And now that the sun has been raised, I guess that we'd better hop to it!" 

Celestia then led the way out to the balcony, accompanied by Taylor, Tinker, and one other guard, Night Sword. He wanted to turn his life around, and after hearing what Celestia and Taylor had been talking about for hours, decided to give his life to Christ as well, especially after hearing that God really did want everyone, and everypony to return to Him in Heaven when they died. (He would have gone with Tinker when he entered Celestia's room, but he didn't have the courage at the time. After thinking it over though, his conscience, as well as the Holy Spirit, told him to go for it, and so he did.) 

After taking a deep breath, Celestia used that same spell to summon all of her subjects. Many of them who were able, (and close enough!) made their way outside of the castle to hear what their princess had to say. Those who were unable, (or too far away) were still going to be able to hear Celestia, thanks to her spell. Once she had given the signal, and everypony in the land had quieted down, Celestia started. 

"My Dear Subjects", she began, "It has come to my attention that an ancient prophesy that was made to my grandmother has finally been fulfilled!" 

The crowd began to whisper among themselves, and Celestia continued.

"It has been fulfilled, by Lieutenant Charles Taylor, the human who arrived in Equestria just two short days ago. How has he fulfilled a prophesy you ask? Well, he has just shown me the way that we are all to avoid a terrible punishment." 

"What punishment is that?" The crowd asked. "A monster?! Discord's return?! A parasprite infestation?! A Caribou invasion?!" 

Celestia shook her head. "That's what I originally believed the prophesy to be warning of as well. However, last night, the Creator showed me a glimpse of what lies in store for those who rebel against Him. I saw no way to avoid His judgement,  and I cried out in despair. In that hour of need, he sent Mr. Taylor to me, and through him, He showed me that we must repent of our sin of rebellion, and turn back to Him!" 

"Um, how do we do that, Princess Celestia?" 

"We do that by putting our faith, and trust in His Son, Jesus Christ, and repent of our Sin! After Mr. Taylor revealed this to be true to me, he prayed that God would work on our hearts, and show us that we were in trouble." Here though, Celestia paused. "And for the record, does any of this even make sense to any of you?" 

In answer to Celestia's question, there came the sound of applause and cheering from the audience, followed by shouts of praise to the Creator, who had just revealed that He had not abandoned them after almost 4,500 years of supposed silence after all. 

Taylor then looked out over the crowd, and up towards the front, he spotted Redheart and Starlight, as well as the doctor. The two nurses were cheering him on, but the doctor just shook his head. Taylor couldn't really read out what the doctor was thinking, but he did get the feeling that it might not be positive. 

"Rejection of the Light is to be expected everywhere in society", he thought, "But it's just that much worse when you actually witness it in person." 

At the confirmation of her statement, Celestia then went on to announce how Equestria must be kept on the Straight and Narrow Path. "We must set aside a day at the end of the week to be a day for praising the Creator. As Mr. Taylor has told me, this day on Earth is called 'Sunday'. We must also set up centers for his worship, as well as to instruct others." 

Taylor then added to the crowd that supplies should also be procured for the printing and distribution of Bibles for the population. This suggestion was met with enthusiasm from the crowd, most of whom had been taught about the Creator, and how he was the God who had given their first princess life. However, there were also those in the crowd who ridiculed, jeered and objected, but they were ultimately drowned out by those who were on fire for Christ. 

After they had been cheering for a bit, Taylor then asked for silence, and that they could bow their heads, so that he could say a prayer for them. They complied, and once it was silent, Taylor started. 

"Dear God", he prayed, "I lift before You now the citizens of this great nation of Equestria. They invite You back into their hearts, and they pray now that You show them the way through life. It will be a rough road, but it will be one that ultimately ends in the Land of Glory. I also pray that you give us the strength that it takes to make it there, and to give others who are not quite ready yet the knowledge to begin their journey as well. These prayers we lift up to You now, Our God, the Creator, and Giver of All, in Your Name I pray, amen!" 

The crowd erupted once more into cheering and praise, and Taylor thought that maybe, all was going to be right with the world again. He then raised his voice up to Heaven in praise as well, unaware of the burning hatred that he had just procured from two sources. One was Hell itself, and the other was from twisted monster still trapped in her prison on the moon. 

She watched all that was happening down on the surface, and she couldn't stand it. "I can't take this!" She screeched, "All of this praise, and to who?! The God who abandoned us! He sided with my sister, and banished me here!" 

She then turned her eyes up to Heaven. "Why did you do this to me?! I was meant to rule! You just shook your head, and crowned my sister instead. I HATE YOU!!!!!" 

"I really wouldn't do that if I were you Nightmare", a small voice deep inside told her. "Bad things happen to those who curse at God. Be content. In just 55 more years, you'll be free, and then you'll be back in action." 

"Shut up Luna!" Nightmare Moon growled at the voice. "You were just a pathetic excuse for a princess, and now you're worthless!" 

"Oh, I'm worthless, am I?", the voice laughed. "I don't need you to survive, but without me, YOU'RE nothing!" 

Nightmare Moon knew that Luna was right. She still shook her hoof at God, but she also got busy with plans on how she would torture Taylor for what he was doing, unaware that of what would REALLy happen to her, in just 55 short years. 





Back in Equestria Taylor felt the hatred for his actions, but he didn't want to say anything, as he didn't want to cause a panic. 

After the celebrations had ended, Taylor then went back to his room in the castle, and finally got some much needed rest. Aside from about an hour with Nurse Redheart, he had been awake for almost 25 hours. The time was 9:30 when his head hit the pillow, and he didn't wake up again until it was past 2:00 in the afternoon. 

While Taylor was asleep though, he had a very peculiar dream. In his dream, he saw that when Nightmare Moon finally did return, he was 88 years old, and that he defeated her with the help of 6 young fillies. He also dreamed that he would live long enough to see them become the next protectors of Equestria. The final sequence of his dream revealed to him that in his last few years of life, two more humans would find their way to Equestria; one of whom would become his successor after he had passed on.

When he woke up, he told Reheart about his dream, and she didn't really know what to make of it. 

"I don't know what to tell you Taylor. I'm just an ordinary nurse, not a dream specialist." 

"But do you think that it could mean anything? I mean, I've had plenty of dreams before, but none of them were like this one. This one was much more vivid, so much more, real." 

Redheart still didn't know what to say. "Again, I really don't know what to say Taylor. Maybe it does mean something though. I guess that you'll just have to find out in 55 years." 

Taylor nodded. "Yeah, I guess that I will. Provided of course that I do live to be 88 years old, which is how old I was in my dream." 

Taylor was still so confused, but he decided to brush it aside for now, and first go with Celestia to a tailor to get his proper measurements, and then to round up the engineers again, so that they could work once again on his plane. 





After the measuring was complete, the tailor got to work on the robe, while a horseshoe maker got to work on the slippers. Taylor and the engineers got to work on the plane. Both he and the engineers spent the rest of the afternoon down in the castle's basement, continuing work on the plane. 

One of them had managed to collect some proper clear glass, which was melted down, and remolded to fit the slots for it on the cockpit canopy. Taylor meanwhile was busy with the engine. Using the parts that he had been provided, he managed to fix loose wires, damaged pieces, and torn hoses. Cracked pieces were removed, cleaned, welded together, and then bolted back into place. 

Once this was finally complete, he filled the engine with gear oil that was procured from the Equestrian Railway, courtesy of All Aboard, who was really appreciative of Taylor's help with loading all of the luggage onto the train. The engine now had all of the oil that it needed, but Taylor still didn't have anything to use to make gasoline with so that the engine could be restarted. 

By the end of that day, All of the mechanical work was finally done, as was all of the bodywork. There were no more holes, cracks, dents, bends, or metal distortions to be seen anywhere, the tires had all been repaired and re-inflated, the glass canopy was now brand now again, and the propeller was well on it's way to being re-fabricated as well. It was well on it's way to flying again, and Taylor and the engineers couldn't have been prouder of all of their hard work. 

All that remained to be done was to finish the propeller, prime the parts of the body that needed it for painting, apply the primer, and then, once that was done, paint the body, and of course, apply the decals. This would complete the plane's structural work, leaving only one thing to be done, find a way to make some gasoline.

"Well guys, once again, all of your hard work has put us so close to making this beauty ready to fly again. All that remains now is the propeller, paintwork, and of course, the gasoline." 

They all nodded. "You're welcome Mr. Taylor. It was our genuine pleasure to be able to help you with this project. We look forward to when we'll be able to work with you again on it." 

Taylor nodded, and they all got to work on closing the workshop down for the day. Once again, the plane was covered in protective tarps, as were the workbenches. The lights were turned off, and the door was then shut and locked securely. After saying goodbye, Taylor then went up to dinner.





At Dinner, Taylor told everyone about their progress with the plane. 

"It's really that close to flying again Mr. Taylor?" Celestia asked. 

"Yeah. All that remains now is to finish the new propeller, attach it to the plane, finish all of the painting and decal work, and of course, make some new gasoline, and restart the engine. However, therein lies the problem. You ponies don't have any gasoline on hand, so that means that we'll have to learn how to make some. Like I said before, Moonshine would be a good base element." 

Nurse Starlight then turned to Taylor. "Well Mr. Taylor, like I said before, your best bet for finding that would be at Sweet Apple Acres. I would even be willing to take you down there myself tomorrow, if you would like that." 

Taylor was slightly surprised. "You really would?" 

Starlight nodded. "Of course. Maybe we could even see if Miss Redheart would like to come along as well." 

Taylor thought that this was a great idea. "Would you like to come with us too Miss Redheart?" 

Redheart looked up from her plate, and over at Taylor and Starlight. "I'd love to come along!" She replied eagerly. "I've actually been wanting to see that place for myself for a while now, but I've never really gotten the chance to. Not until now anyway. I guess that I don't have to schedule a trip anymore!" 

Starlight nodded. "Well, I guess that it's settled then. Tomorrow morning, we leave for Ponyville, and head over to Sweet Apple Acres. Taylor can get his moonshine, and I can get some of their delicious apples!" 

"And I would like to see about getting some of their apple pie. I've heard that it was so good you would never want to eat apple pie from anywhere else!" Redheart was a huge fan of apple pie. 

"And I'll also be going to Ponyville tomorrow, as I must get back to the hospital. My services are once again needed there, as will you two's before long!" He added, pointing to Redheart and Starlight.  

They both looked at each other. They knew that this was true, but they were hoping to get maybe a few more days in Canterlot first. 

After dinner ended, Taylor went to chat with Tinker for a while, as did Starlight. She found herself becoming quite attracted to the young stallion, very much like Redheart was with Taylor. Eventually, they all parted ways and went to bed, dreaming of what the next day would bring.