Golf Echo Bravo

by part time pony

Chapter 3 | A Noble Visit

Having already lived three days and nights in the new world, Timothy and Antoine were already used to seeing the ponies instead of normal humans. They had both learned the names of most ponies in Ponyville as well. Timothy himself was a fast learner, as for Antoine he prefered taking things slowly so that he wouldn't make mistakes in the long run. Bot

The two that shared the small house near the Golden Oak Library did miss the technology, cultures, history and other common sights in their world, but at the same time, they were fascinated by Equestria. While the technology here resembled more of a Victorian-era one it still had the modern appliances such as the Television and modern-day Healthcare.

As for transportation, the main forms of it were by steam train. Equestria had yet not gotten electrical trains which could go much, much faster than a steam train. At about 600km/h the SCMaglev from Japan was the fastest train the world, the human world of course. Timothy had estimated that the Friendship Express could go a max speed of 98km/h, not even close to the Mallard, a steam train on Earth that could go up to 203km/h.

Antoine was, for the most part, curious about how a world full of ponies could adapt into a modern-day society. He perhaps thought too much of it as Timothy was trying to wake the Frenchman from his thoughts.

"Hey, Antoine!" Timothy said loudly.

"Ouais?" Antoine responded in his native language.

"I don't speak baguette you know that."

"Shut up.." Antoine started. "And you should at least be able to know that Ouais means Yeah at least."

"The only word in French I'll ever know is Bonjour," said Timothy. "By the way, that Rare pony was looking for you, forgot her name."

"I'll go see her at her store later today then. Ever since we arrived here she has been glued to me, must be because of how I described fashion in France."

"Well I wouldn't be so surprised, she's a fashion designer, probably looking for some inspiration," Timothy said.

All of the sudden though, a knock was heard on the front door of the small house. Antoine wasted no time in going to the door and opening it. When he opened it he was surprised to see a white pegasus pony with golden shiny armour. The pony looked as if he was military.

"Hello?" Antoine said.

"Hello, I am Squadron Leader Messerschmitt from the Royal Pegasus Corps, Princess Celestia was wondering whether you and your friend could come to her," Messerschmitt said.

"Of course we'll come. Timmy, vien ici."

Timothy who had been sitting at the kitchen table stood up and walked towards the entrance of the door. He looked at Antoine who was looking at a peculiar looking pony. Timothy was sort of stunned at first sight of the pony, the armour made him think that the pony at the front door was perhaps military. Maybe the pony government did not like the humans and wanted them to leave? Unlikely but possible, Timothy thought.

"Yes, what is it?" The Brit asked after having been thinking for a while.

"You two have been invited for a discussion with Princess Celestia. She is waiting for you two at your, uh, flying machine."

The Investigation had officially begun yesterday on what happened to Golf Echo Bravo. All Investigators from the three countries and Airbus were currently being briefed by Álfur, the lead investigator who had been given special permission to oversee the investigation. The room was huge, but that wasn't a surprise to anyone as they were inside a hangar at the local airport. Álfur was standing at the end of the table while the others were sitting, behind him were some Whiteboards with a small, not to scale Airbus A318 painted on it, a roughly drawn map of Iceland's coast and some additional info.

"Three days ago, at 1 PM local time, Golf Echo Bravo entered Icelandic Airspace. The Aircraft, an Airbus A318 was starting its long approach towards Keflavík Airport." Álfur started.

"About 15 minutes later, a volcanic eruption started here." Álfur pointed towards a point on Southern Iceland.

"ATC did not warn Golf Echo Bravo and moments later the aircraft disappeared." Álfur finished.

"So what's the big deal, the plane's in the ocean, let's just dig it up." An Investigator from the UK said.

"I wish it was that easy but it's not. There is no trace of the aircraft in the ocean and we haven't been able to find any of the beacons from the Flight Recorders." Álfur responded to the comments of the British Investigator.

"So, if the aircraft isn't in the water, where is it then?" An Investigator from France asked.

"That's our job, kind of. We're here to find out what happened, and if possible find this aircraft as it'll help us greatly." Álfur said.

Princess Celestia looked in amazement at the aircraft. She had never seen anything like it. For her, it was an experience to learn something new, a thing the Princess enjoyed very much. Right next to her was one of her best pupils if not the best, Twilight Sparkle and her five best friends. They hadn't searched the aircraft yet to figure out what it is as they feared it could possibly be dangerous. Therefore, they decided to let the experts, Timothy and Antoine do the job.

The two humans approached the aircraft followed by the Squadron Leader they met earlier. Antoine looked at the aircraft and saw how it had remained untouched, the evacuation slide was still there and had begun deflating slightly. While Antoine looked around Timothy went to Princess Celestia. The Princess was about the same height as Timothy, and as the man from Great Britain approached her he realized how much taller the white alicorn was compared to the other ponies. She was at least twice their height.

"Hello your highness, I'm Timothy but can you can just call me Tim or Timmy." Timothy started.

"Thank you for introducing yourself Timothy, I am Princess Equestria, ruler of Equestria," said Celestia.

"Could you please tell me what this flying beast is?" She asked.

"Oh, our aircraft? Well, it's an Airbus A318, built by the large multinational corporation known as Airbus and part of the A320 family. You know, I should tell you all the history of aviation while I'm here, it'll help you understand." Timothy offered.

"History? Yes please!" Twilight Sparkle said out loud.

"Well then, the history of aviation dates back to a millennium before the first flights. Back in Ancient Greece there already were stories about aviation, such as the most popular one about Icarus."

"However, it would take years before humans would be able to enjoy the luxury of flying. You see, everyone was obsessed with flying back then, even English monks."

"But in France, in the year 1783, two brilliant brothers ignite the match in modern air travel. Well, it wasn't very modern but you get the point."

"After that, we went on to fly with zeppelins. Until the Hindenburg disaster which ended the legacy of zeppelins."

"But, at the turn of the century, in 1903, the first aircraft took off in the United States. And that's when flying became a reality. However, before we could go to commercial flights the uh, The Great War had something planned for aviation, in fact, both world wars had and it wasn't until the end of the second that commercial flying could begin."

"Numerous airlines sprung up, Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways, Scandinavian Airlines and the oldest existing airline KLM."

"At the dawn of the sixties, a new form I'd travel by air was brought into commercial flight with the jet age. Air travel became cheaper, faster, safer and more efficient."

"And from there it's history, multiple aircraft were built including the Queen of the Skies, the Boeing 747. Today, much bigger planes exist and new ones are coming out every day. Oh and don't get me started on Space travel!"

"Space travel? Pleas-" Twilight tried to stay but was however cut off by Applejack.

"Sorry Twilight, but ah don't think we want to hear more, just you sugar cube and Rainbow Dash seem interested." Applejack said while pointing at Rainbow Dash who had her mouth wide open.

The five mares began to laugh at Rainbow Dash's expression and it took a while before the Pegasus mare realized she was being laughed at.

"Uh, what's funny?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh, nothing! Except for that wide open mouth you had earlier!" Pinkie Pie said fast.