The next morning, Taylor woke up. He was still in his bed in the infirmary, and Starlight was still with him. His head still felt pretty sore, but overall, he felt ok.
He looked over at Starlight. "Any word yet on how soon I'll be able to leave?" He asked.
Starlight nodded. "Yes. As it turns out, you haven't suffered from a concussion, and the laceration on your head isn't so deep as to require stitches. Overall, you seem to be ok, and once you have your things together, we'll leave for Ponyville on the next train."
Taylor looked at her. "Yeah, I bet it'll be nice for you and Redheart to be home again."
Starlight then gave him a sad look. "Um, actually, it'll just be you and me, Mr. Taylor."
Taylor looked at her confused. "What? What do you mean?"
She sighs. "I mean that she left for Ponyville on an earlier train."
"Wait, so she didn't even say goodbye or anything?"
"I'm afraid not Mr. Taylor. She just packed up, and left. She seemed to be crying as well."
It was then that the memories of the previous night came flooding back to Taylor. "Oh no", he muttered, face buried in his hands, "I've really done it now. Now I've lost Miss Redheart forever."
Starlight couldn't hear what Taylor was muttering, but she could guess. "It'll be ok Mr. Taylor. Just give her some time, and I'm sure that she'll come around again. I mean", She seemed to be struggling to come up with the right words. "You guys do have great chemistry, right?"
Taylor looked up at her. "If you would have asked me that yesterday, I would have said yes. Now, who really knows."
Taylor then looked up at the clock on the wall. Seeing that it was close to 10:00, he knew that he was going to have to hurry to pack up not only all of this things, but also his plane. He thought back to the previous night. Just before his walk with Redheart, he had gotten word from the Airplane 8 that they had managed to secure a lease on a workshop in Ponyville that would become their base of operations as they were trying to get off the ground.
"And by sometime this afternoon, we'll all be in Ponyville, and I guess that my plane will be stored in the workshop for the time being." He thought to himself. "Long term, I know that we'll probably have to build a separate storage shed for it."
Pushing those thoughts aside for now, Taylor got out of his bed to begin the preparations.
About an hour or so later, with the help of the engineers, the plane was moved out of the workshop in the castle basement one final time. Once again, it was moved to the railway station, where it was to be strapped to the same gondola car from the previous day. Taylor had all of his things with him, as did Nurse Starlight. Both Tinker and Celestia were with them, so as to wish them well when they departed.
As always the train arrived on time. The plane was loaded up and secured, and Taylor helped load everything else onto the train as well. Then, just before the train departed, he and Starlight said their goodbyes.
"Goodbye Taylor", Tinker told him as they shook hands/hooves. "We sure had a lot of fun together. I'll admit, I never knew that humans could be so great at contests like that!"
"Yeah", Taylor agreed, "Even though we kinda messed ourselves up, it sure was fun. We'll have to do it again sometime."
"Yeah, we will. I'm sure going to miss you though Taylor."
Taylor nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to miss you too Tinker. But don't worry, I'm pretty sure that we'll be seeing each other again soon, and even if we don't, I'll write to you."
"Yeah, that would be nice."
Taylor then said his goodbyes to Celestia, while Starlight said goodbye to Tinker.
"I'm going to miss you so much Mr. Taylor." She whispered as she hugged him.
"I know, I'm going to miss you too."
"And once again, I'm so, so sorry for what happened."
Taylor's expression darkened. "Yes, I certainly hope that you are. When I confessed to Miss Redheart, she slapped me around, and cut my head pretty badly."
"I know! I never meant for that to happen."
"Well it did, and now my closest female friend has left me, possibly forever. I hope that you can live with what you did."
Taylor then left Celestia, and boarded the train. Once Tinker and Starlight were done saying goodbye, she boarded the train as well. A few moments later, the train began to move. Once it was out of sight, Tinker turned back to Celestia.
"Shall we go now, my Princess?"
Celestia nodded, but she seemed very sad. "Yes, let's go."
"Um, is something wrong, Princess?"
"It's just, that, my night with Taylor a few nights ago has brought me nothing but grief. He lost a close friend because of it, and now he may hate me just as much as I hate myself."
Tinker knew that she was probably right, but he didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything as they walked back to the castle.
Once the train arrived in Ponyville again, the plane was unloaded, and with help from a few porters, he moved it to it's new home, Drywood Workshops, located towards the edge of Ponyville. The building was a modest, two-story structure, that resembled an old barn. It was painted white, and even had two large barn doors at the front. Also there waiting for him were the rest of the Airplane 8.
"Glad that you could join us Mr. Taylor."
Taylor nodded. "Yeah, I'm glad that I could too. I think that this could work out very nicely for our new engineering workshops, at least, for the time being."
With their help, Taylor moved the plane inside of the workshop, and when he did, he saw the interior for the first time. To his surprise, it bore a rather shocking resemblance to the workshop in the basement of Canterlot Castle. There were various workbenches, a concrete floor, racks and shelves for tools, large windows and skylights to provide light, overhead lights to provide light when it's dark, a large space in the middle for working on large projects, and several hoists. Also on the ground floor was the workshop's office, and even a small kitchen, The upper floors contained living quarters, as well as a bathroom.
"Wow, is this a workshop, or a dorm building?" Taylor asked. "I'm very confused.
"I think that it's both actually." Metal Work told him. "The ponies that we're leasing it from said that the previous company that used it had it built in such a way so as that those working here could work in shifts. Some would be working, while others would be eating and sleeping."
Taylor nodded. "Yeah, that would make sense I guess."
After the plane was set up in a corner of the workshop, and the other members of the Airplane 8 began talking about how their new workshop was going to work towards making engines for airships and zeppelins, Taylor excused himself to go to the hospital, and check up on Ensign James.
When he arrived, he found James in his room, sitting in a chair by the window, writing in his notebook. He looked up when he saw Taylor.
"Oh, hello Taylor."
"Hello James. How are you doing?"
James shrugged. "I'm actually feeling almost normal again. I still have some pain from my ribs, as well as where I have stitches, but overall, I feel ok."
"That's good to hear."
"And how have you been doing?"
"Oh, um...." Taylor was caught off guard by that question. "Well, we left Canterlot today, and while Starlight went back to the hospital, I went with those engineers who helped me get my plane flying again to our new workshop here in Ponyville. We're now trying to figure out how to create engines for airships and zeppelins."
James could see that something was wrong with Taylor. "What's wrong Taylor?"
"What do you mean, 'what's wrong'?"
"You know what I mean. I can tell that you're upset about something. What's bothering you?"
Taylor didn't know what to say. On the one hand, he really didn't want to talk about it. On the other hand though, James was not only one of his friends, but also one of his comrades, and had flown with him many times. He decided to tell him. In a low voice, he told James everything.
"....And so that's where I currently stand. Redheart probably hates my guts, and I wouldn't blame her. I have well and truly f@#ked up."
When Taylor finished his story, all James could do was nod. "Um, yeah, I can certainly say that you did. Have you tried talking with Miss Redheart since last night?"
Taylor shook his head. "No, I haven't. She left for Ponyville before Nurse Starlight and I did. I haven't seen her since last night. I'm going to give it some time though. Maybe she'll come to me first."
James shrugged. "Yeah, maybe she will. Anyway, have you fixed that busted aileron on Blue 1 yet?"
"Nope, not yet. I decided to come see you first."
James nodded, but then he thought of another question. "Um, Taylor?"
"Yeah James?"
"I was just wondering, what exactly did you use for fuel for yesterday's flight?"
"Oh, well the engineers and I, with help from a chemical engineer named Dr. Beaker and his team, we managed to mix together moonshine and gear oil, and create gasoline."
James looked at him with deep concern. "Taylor, you need to stop using that stuff immediately!"
Taylor looked at him, confused. "What, why?"
"Because it's unstable! It has no octane in it! The fuel must have a high level of octane in it!"
"Well yeah, but it worked already."
"It worked ONCE, Taylor. Just because you flew with it for 10 minutes doesn't mean that it really worked. Plus, what if God caused that aileron to break to save you, Captain Tinker, and Mr. Rich from dying in a plane crash?"
Taylor thought about that. "That's, possible, I suppose James. However, I did have a team of professionals helping me. They seemed convinced that it was going to work."
"But were they though? Remember, things like combustible fuel are probably new to them. Chances are, none of you really knew what you were doing. Mark my words Taylor, ditch your knockoff gasoline, and start work on making proper, high-octane Avgas. If you don't and you continue to try and fly that plane with what you have, this could easily be our last conversation."
Taylor knew that James was right. "Yeah, you're right James. Plus, even if it was working, the engine was probably getting damaged in the process. Plus, now that we have our own distilling and refining equipment, how hard could it be to make high-octane Avgas?"
"Well, it all depends on your equipment."
"And how did you come to be such an expert on this James?"
James looked at Taylor. "Remember? I was going through that aviation mechanics course at Naval training?"
Taylor nodded. "Oh yeah, I kinda forgot about that. Also, what was the ratio of the fuel again?"
James thought for a moment. "Um, it was 130/140, I think."
"Could you jot some of that down for me so that I can show the others?"
"Sure Taylor." James wrote it all down, and handed it to him.
"Thanks James. Well, it's getting late, and I am due back at the workshop, so I guess that I'll see you later."
"Ok, goodbye for now Taylor. I'll be sure to come by your new workshop when I get the chance. It sounds amazing."
"It is, and goodbye James."
"Goodbye".
Taylor then returned to the workshop.
Later that afternoon, Taylor continued to think about Miss Redheart.
"What are you thinking about Mr. Taylor?"
Taylor turned to see Dusty Pile.
"Oh, um, nothing Dusty, just a personal matter. Nothing for you to concern yourself with."
Dusty nodded. "Sure. Also, when are we going to fix that aileron on your plane?"
Taylor looked over at his plane. "We will, just as soon as we test something first."
Dusty was curious. "Test what?"
"Well, a bit earlier, I went to the hospital to see Ensign James. While I was talking with him, he warned me that the moonshine-based fuel that we're currently using is dangerous."
"What, dangerous? What did he mean?"
"He meant that because it lacks octane, as well as a proper fuel/oil ratio, it could cause serious damage to the engine."
"And, are we going to make new fuel for it?"
Taylor nodded, but then he shook his head. "I think that we should, but I also think that we should do one final startup test first, just to see if any damage has been done to the engine."
They agreed to the test, and after moving the plane out into the center of the room, the wheel chocks were set, and Taylor climbed up and set the brakes as well.
"Standby, I'm running through my pre-flight checklists." A few minutes later, these were complete. "Ok, standby, I'm starting up the engine. Is everypony clear?"
"Affirmative Mr. Taylor, we're all clear!"
"Ok, standby, engine startup!"
As usual, Taylor flicked everything on, but this time, when he pulled on the starting knob, nothing happened.
"Huh, that's strange. Nothing's happening." He tried several more times, but instead of starting right up, all the engine did was sputter. "This is really weird. It didn't do this last time."
Taylor climbed back out of the cockpit, and once he'd grabbed a ladder, he climbed up to the engine compartment, and after opening it up, he began to look around inside.
"See anything Mr. Taylor?"
"Negative Metal work. Everything seems to be in place, however, something smells like burning wires."
"Should one of us climb up and try and start up the engine again?"
Taylor nodded. "Yeah, somepony can. I'll stay here and see if I can spot the problem."
Metalwork, being the chief engineer, climbed up to the cockpit. Because he was a unicorn, he could simply grab the controls with his magic, and therefore didn't need to enter the cockpit.
"Engine starting up!"
"Hang on, let me put my goggles on first." Taylor then put on a pair of clear, machinist goggles, then he was ready.
"Ok, engine starting up!"
Metalwork then worked the controls with his magic, while Taylor watched the engine closely, trying to see what was wrong. Like before, the engine kept sputtering.
"See anything yet Taylor?"
"Nope, not yet."
Eventually, the engine did start for a brief period, but then it began to cough smoke.
"Um, is this supposed to be happening Mr. Taylor?"
Taylor shook his head. "No, no it isn't."
The engine then sputtered, and died. Taylor also began to smell fuel.
"Oh great, now it smells like the engine's flooded!"
"Flooded? How bad is that?"
"Well, it's not the end of the world, but that will have to be fixed by running the engine."
That flooded engine should have served as a warning sign, just like the sputtering, and coughing smoke before it, but Taylor failed to spot these signs.
"We should probably try one more time to clear the engine. Just pull the starter switch again Metalwork."
"Um, is that a good idea Mr. Taylor?"
Taylor nodded. "It's just a flooded engine. It shouldn't take too long to fix."
Metalwork agreed, and he pulled the switch again. This time though, something definitely seemed wrong. The engine began to make loud knocking sounds, as well as start to shudder violently. There was also smoke, and coughing sounds as well.
"Um, this sounds pretty bad Taylor. Shouldn't we stop?"
Just as he said this though, the engine finally seemed to catch.
"No, I think that it's clear now. Maybe it'll........"
Taylor never got a chance to finish that sentence. Just before he could, the engine had had all it could take of the knockoff fuel that it had been forced to burn for a period of time, and with a violent blast, the engine exploded. A jet of flames shot out from the engine compartment, coming straight out of the open side, and even blasting open the other side. Since he was standing on a ladder right next to the open section of the compartment, from his waist up, Taylor was suddenly engulfed in a sheet of flames.
A series of smaller explosions occurred just afterwards, and for a moment, the whole front of the plane disappeared into a fireball. The fireball then blew itself out, and the force knocked over the ladder that Taylor had been standing on, sending him crashing to the ground.
The last thing that Taylor saw, besides the engine, was a blinding flash of white light, and then, absolutely nothing.