(WARNING: Chapter contains some minor language. You have been warned!)
For the longest time, Ensign James said nothing. He continued to just lie on his bed, and seemingly keep trying to convince himself that he wasn't dead or dreaming, and that all of what he was experiencing was indeed real. Every now and again, he would ask Taylor a question, and Taylor would answer.
"So, how long have you been here again?"
"Um, I crash-landed here about 4 days ago."
"And how badly hurt were you?"
"Not too bad. Just some minor cuts, scrapes, and bruises. No broken bones or internal bleeding. I also suffered from a minor concussion from hitting my head against the control panel in front of me."
"And what happened to the plane? Is it a total wreck?"
Taylor shook his head. "Actually, it isn't. Well, not anymore at least. It was pretty badly damaged during my crash-landing, however, after bringing it to Canterlot, which is Equestria's capital city, under the direction of Princess Celestia, she helped me organize a team of 8 engineers, who assisted me with restoring Blue 1. We're almost done. All that's left to do now is to just see if we can make some more fuel."
James looked at him, confused. "Um, 'Princess Celestia'? Who's she?"
"She's me, dear."
James looked towards the back of the room, and sure enough, a tall mare with white fur, a long, flowing mane and tail, and magenta eyes looked at him, smiling.
"I am Princess Celestia, ruler of the land of Equestria."
"So it was you who helped with Taylor's plane reconstruction?"
She nodded. "Yes, yes it was. I gathered together the best engineers I could find, and together, the 9 of them have so far succeeded in putting the plane back together again"
James lay back on his bed a bit. "This is going to take some serious getting used to", he said quietly. "You don't mind if I rest for a while Taylor, do you?"
Taylor shook his head. "No, I don't mind at all. With the injuries that you had, you need your rest." Taylor got up from his chair. "I'll check back in with you later."
"Ok, goodnight Taylor."
"Goodnight James."
With that, James went to sleep, and Taylor, and Celestia left the room. Redheart and Starlight decided to stay behind for a while longer to help.
"We'll be back in Canterlot later on tonight Mr. Taylor." Redheart told him.
Taylor nodded. "Ok. I'll see both you, and Miss Starlight later."
"Goodbye Mr. Taylor."
Goodbye Miss Redheart, and Miss Starlight."
Leaving the two nurses to their work, Celestia and Taylor walked back downstairs to see if the messenger and the 8 engineers were still there. Sure enough, they all were, and they all looked at them anxiously.
"So, what happened up there?" They all asked.
"Well", Taylor answered slowly, "The human is Ensign William James. He was my toredoman/radio operator on my final flight."
"What?! How did he get here?"
"He bailed out sometime before my plane reached the portal, but his parachute snagged on the left rear stabilizer. He got dragged along behind the plane until sometime after I entered the portal, then his parachute detached, and I guess that he floated free. For the next few days, he was drifting unconscious through the portal, until this morning. He exited the portal, drifted for a bit, all while still unconscious, crashed into the hospital, broke two windows, then fell to the ground, causing a concussion, as well as 3 cracked ribs. A fair amount of broken glass also fell on him, causing a number of serious cuts. He was then found, and taken into the hospital to the same room where I'd been taken."
"How serious is his condition?"
"It isn't too serious. Aside from the rather serious cuts, cracked ribs, and minor concussion, he seems to be only suffering from shock. He went back to sleep, and is being taken care of by the hospital staff."
The messenger nodded. "Ok, well I'm glad that he's ok. I'm going to head back to my duty station now." He then exited the waiting room, and walked down a hallway to his office.
The enginners looked at each other, and then back at Taylor. "So, I'm guessing that we should head back to Canterlot, and finish the plane work, and then begin to see if we can make fuel?"
Taylor nodded. "Yes, assuming that Princess Celestia can teleport us all back there. If not, then I guess that we just take the train."
Celestia nodded. "Yes, I can teleport us all back to Canterlot."
Once they were all ready, Celestia performed the teleportation spell, and moments later, all of them were back in Canterlot.
"We'll all be back down in our basement workshop Princess. Just call us if you need anything."
Celestia nodded. "Ok then, I'll leave all of you to it."
With that, Celestia left to do her work as a princess, and Taylor and the "Airplane 8" went back to the basement workshop. This time though, they were joined by a few other engineers. These engineers not only knew all about combustible fuels and how they worked, but also all about magic, (as they were unicorns), and possibly had the knowledge to put both of these fields together to help create the first batch of gasoline in Equestrian history.
"So, do all of you think that it would be possible to create a fuel based on these requirements here?" Taylor asked, showing them a schematic of what was required to make gasoline.
The group leader shrugged. "I'm not sure. What exactly were all of you planning on using for a base element?"
"Well, we were planning on using moonshine, as well as......"
"WHAT?!?!?!?! Moonshine?!?!?!?! Why in Equestria would you use that?!?!?!?!"
Taylor took a deep breath. "Well, as I was about to say just before I was rudely interrupted, the original plan was to use moonshine for a base element, as by itself it can be used as a temporary combustible fuel in some engines. However, without oil, combustion cannot be sustained without severely damaging the engine. Our solution to this problem was to mix the moonshine with a mixture of cooking oil, as well as gear oil. Theoretically, when the oils would be mixed with the moonshine, they will mix together to form a combustible fuel that would be able to sustain combustion."
The engineers put their hooves over their faces. "Well, now I see why Celestia sent us down here to help you. Without us, you would all probably kill yourselves."
The 8 original engineers were rather upset. "I beg your pardon!" Metal Work interrupted, "I will have you know that all of my engineers are the most capable in our fields in all of Equestria!"
"And far be it from me to criticize your intelligence. I'm sure that all of you are the best in your fields. However, your fields involve mechanical engineering, not chemical engineering, which is our profession. And while we may have been in shock at first, now that we see your plan laid out, let me be the first to tell you that you are on the right track, however, the oils won't properly mix with the moonshine by themselves."
Taylor looked at them. "They won't?"
"No. Everything will have to be distilled, and then refined if we are to make this 'gasoline' that your plane requires."
"And how do we do that?"
The lead chemical engineer pointed to the Airplane 8. "That's where all of you come in. We're going to need a distilling and refining system built, and we're going to need all of you to build it for us."
He handed Taylor a set of blueprints. Taylor looked it over. To him, as well as the others, the machines that they were to build looked like a jungle of pipes, connected to a series of vats, with a few pumps thrown in as well.
"Um, you do know where we're going to get all of the parts for these machines, right?"
The lead chemical engineer, Dr. Beaker, nodded, and pointed to a series of crates behind him. "Right there. Just unload the crates, and build the machines. While you're all doing that, my team and I will be hard at work on figuring out the rest. If all goes well, by the end of the day today, we should have a good supply of gasoline for you to use in your plane Mr. Taylor, as well as more for you to be able to use in the future."
Taylor nodded. "Yes, that sounds good. Alright everypony!" He said, turning to the Airplane 8, "Let's get to it!"
They all cheered, and began to pull the crates apart, pull out the pieces inside, and begin to assemble them. For the next couple of hours, the workshop was fully abuzz with activity. Hammers were hammering, screws were being turned, bolts were being tightened, wrenches were turning, parts were being put together, minor welding was going on, holes were being drilled, saws were sawing wood, and everypony, and Taylor, was extremely busy.
Meanwhile, while all of them were hard at work building the machines, Dr. Beaker and the chemical engineers were hard at work on the details of the fuel, and how everything was going to be mixed together. It took some doing, but they were trained professionals. They were simply taking existing elements, and bringing them all together to form a new element.
Once everything was all put together, it was time to bring in the moonshine, oils, and a mixture of kerosene, and distill and refine them. This is where things got rather complicated, and dangerous. Since nothing like this had ever been attempted before in the history of Equestria, there were bound to be problems.
"Hey Taylor?"
"Yeah?"
"Is that pipe supposed to be leaking?"
Taylor looked. "Um, no. No it isn't."
Unfortunately, a leaking pipe was soon to become the least of their worries. The contents of the pipe was dripping onto a pump system, and that pump started to smoke.
"Uh oh, that don't look good. We'd better fix that before....."
Taylor never got the chance to finish that thought. Just before he did, the dripping liquid burst into flames!
"SHIT!!!!!!"
Taylor and another engineer quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher, and hosed the burning mess down. Unfortunately, there was another problem.
"Shit! The pipe's still leaking! It's just like a stream of fire! QUICK, SOMEPONY SHUT OFF THE PIPE'S VALVE!!!!!!"
One of the engineers did so, and once the pipe had drained dry a few seconds later, the fire was quickly brought under control.
"Damn", Taylor muttered, "That was way too close." He looked up at the others. "If we're not more careful, this whole project could go up in flames, literally!"
They all nodded, and an immediate check to look the entire system over for leaks was begun. About 30 minutes later, the check was complete.
"Ok, check complete. No other leaks were found."
Taylor put his hand over his face.
"Oh boy", he muttered, "I get the feeling that this is going to be a VERY long day!"
Sure enough, Taylor was right. From that first leaking pipe onward, it was just one mishap after another. More pipes burst, chemicals didn't mix right, more fires started, things were leaking, it was not a pretty picture. The hours passed, until finally, they began to get somewhere.
"Um, excuse me, Mr. Taylor?"
"Yes Dr. Beaker?"
"I've figured out the last of the chemical formulas now. Now that you all have worked out all of the bugs with the distilling and refining machines, it should only be a matter of time now before the gasoline starts to be produced."
Taylor walked over to where Dr. Beaker was standing. At the far end of the machines, a coiled hose that ended in a nozzle was being directed downwards into a metal container peviously used to hold quantities of fruit juice. A number of other containers sat nearby. They had once been used to hold fruit juice, now they were being used as Equestria's first gas cans.
All while this was happening, the machines whirred. Pumps moved liquids around, pistons pumped, gears turned, belts moved, and steam hissed occasionally. All of the gauges showed pressure to be within normal levels. Eventually, a beeping sound was heard from the machine.
"What's that, is something wrong?" Taylor was very concerned.
Dr. Beaker shook his head. "I could see how you would think so Mr. Taylor, but I can assure you that this is not the case."
"Well, then what does it mean?"
"It means that the first batch of fuel is ready to be put into a container for testing!"
Sure enough, with his magic, Dr. Beaker used the nozzle on the end of the hose to direct the first stream of fuel into a container. It was a clearish-yellow in color, and it was definitely giving off vapors.
Taylor looked at it. "Yep", he said after sniffing it, "That's gasoline all right. Or at least a close variant of it."
Upon testing, the gasoline did indeed burst into flames, and upon further testing, it performed well in a testing engine.
"Very nice", Taylor complemented, "Now all we have to do is collect the rest of the gasoline into those metal containers, until we have enough to put into the fuel tank of the plane."
"And then what do you plan on doing with it?" Dr. Beaker asked.
"Well, I plan on putting the fuel into storage until such a time that it's needed again."
Dr. Beaker cocked his head to the side a bit. "Eh, maybe I should have specified. I mean, what are you planning on doing with your craft once you have put the fuel into it."
Taylor nodded. "Oh. I see what you mean. I plan on doing what we set out to do from the very beginning, see if we can't get my plane to fly again."
"And do you think that it will Mr. Taylor?"
Taylor shrugged. "Only time will tell Dr. Beaker, but if all of my calculations are correct, then yes, I do believe that it will."
With that, Dr. Beaker nodded, and then all of them got back to work on collecting the new gasoline.