1. Intro
[Author's Note] This was written at silly o'clock, so it won't be the best piece of writing ever. Hell, it wouldn't be anyway, but enjoy.
“Ugh, how long did they say this flight was gonna last again?” The question came from Rainbow Dash. They had been flying in the luxury zeppelin days now, and Rainbow hadn't been able to fly inside the zeppelin in case she broke something, much to Rainbow's chagrin. She just wanted to get to their destination, Marebourne, as quickly as possible, so that she could spread her wings again. The rooms in the zeppelin were small and stuffy, which was definitely not the ideal environment for her. She was lying on a couch like a carsick dog, with her facing the back of the seat, and her head resting on her crossed forelegs.
“Rainbow, this is the fifth time today you've asked. We already told you that you've only got a day left to wait,” Applejack said. She let out a short sigh as she tried to think of a way to help her friend. “Listen, Ah know you're uncomfortable in here, but thinking about it is only going to make it worse.”
Applejack was trying her best to console Rainbow, but she got a less than positive reaction. Rainbow just stood up, murmured something about “stupid flight attendants not letting me fly”, and stormed back into her cabin, slamming the door behind her.
Twilight was sitting on the bed in her cabin reading a book entitled 'Customs and Traditions of Marebourne'. She insisted on being aptly familiar with any new place's culture, as she felt that knowing about another pony's culture helped you understand that pony. So far, she had learned that Marebourne ponies often played a sport called 'cricket', and they enjoyed barbecues. There was also a section for Marebourne slang, but Twilight figured she would just be able to refer to that page if she needed to. She felt that she had read enough for the time being, and she decided to see how the others were doing. Just as she put her bookmark between the pages, there was a loud bang.
Twilight instinctively flinched, and climbed off her bed to see what had happened. She opened the door to her cabin and stepped out into the lounge, where a disappointed and slightly bewildered Applejack was sitting on the floor.
“Applejack? Are you okay? What happened? Where are the others?” Twilight was subconsciously interrogating Applejack, not realising how many questions she was asking at once.
Applejack sighed. “Ah'm fine, Twilight. Rainbow's just on edge a bit. Ah suppose Ah would be too, if Ah were her. She hasn't been able to fly in days. It must be awful for her... Oh, and by the way, Ah think Fluttershy was with Rarity in her cabin, and Pinkie's just...”
“Being Pinkie?” Twilight finished for her. Pinkie was always just being Pinkie, but on the zeppelin, Pinkie was being even more Pinkie than usual. Twilight imagined it was just the altitude getting to her, but with Pinkie, it could be anything. “Should I try and talk to her?”
“Ah wouldn't bother, Twi. Ah think it might be best if we just left her until she's in a better mood. In the meantime, why don't we see what Rarity and Fluttershy are doing?”
***
Fluttershy gasped excitedly. She was staring out of her cabin's window from her bed, and Rarity was sitting next to her. “Look, Rarity! It's an albatross! Do you know how rare they are? They're amazing birds! They fly over entire oceans, and they sleep while they fly! Isn't that incredible? And they have such majestic plumage!”
Rarity looked up to see the 'amazing albatross'. When she looked out the window, she saw the albatross. Or at least she assumed she did, as it looked exactly like the last 6 birds Fluttershy had pointed out to her.
“Why, that is simply lovely dear!” Rarity said that, but she didn't really mean it. As much as she enjoyed spending time with Fluttershy, she could get a bit over-zealous about animals sometimes. Luckily, a knock on the door prevented any awkwardness that could've arose. “Oh, do come in!”
Twilight open the door and trotted into Fluttershy's cabin, with Applejack following close behind. “Howdy, you two! What're you doing in here?” Applejack could see that Rarity had a handkerchief with a needle through it next to her on the bed, so she assumed she was embroidering, but she couldn't work out what Fluttershy was doing. She almost looked like she was in a trance, just staring out of the window.
Rarity turned Toward the door. “Hello Applejack! Oh, and Twilight too! Fluttershy is watching birds out of the window. She's seen quite a few rare birds so far, haven't you?”
“Oh, um, yes! I've seen plenty! Just before I saw an albatross! It was beautiful. It's a shame you missed it.” Fluttershy always sounded oddly confident when she was talking about animals.
As she was about to carry on about the albatross, Pinkie Pie cantered into the room, as peppy and barmy as ever. “Hey, there you all are! Wait, where's Rainbow Dash? Oh, I know! Is she it? I get it! Okay, where should I hide?”
“No, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash is in her cabin,” Twilight replied matter-of-factly. “She's just not in the best of moods, that's all.” Twilight didn't really know the entire story, but she felt it her job to explain what she knew.
“Oh, I see. Huh..?” Pinkie's eyes suddenly started winking completely out of sync. “Blinky eyes? Well what does that mean?” Pinkie Pie was always an expert at knowing what her Pinkie Sense was telling her, but this sign had her completely flummoxed.
Fluttershy turned around to look at the commotion, but quickly turned back to looking out of the window. She was sure it would be fine. When she resumed her post, she could see a pair of dark green birds off in the distance. They were flying in the same direction as the zeppelin, at about the same speed. Slowly, the birds began to edge closer, as they leaned towards the ponies. However, as they got closer, they got bigger. And bigger. And bigger. And bigger still. As they neared the zeppelin, something hit Fluttershy. They were propeller planes. And as they carried on in their direction, the rest of the ponies noticed them through the window too. And as they got closer and closer, their shapes got clearer and clearer.
Twilight made a horrifying realisation. They weren't just planes. They were armed planes. Not a second later, they unleashed a hail of bullets on the aircraft. The ponies all managed to duck just in time, as the glass of the zeppelin's windows shattered into a thousand shards. As soon as she was safe, Twilight put a magical force-field around the hull of the zeppelin.
They were all panting and taking in deep breaths as their minds adjusted to the situation. While the other ponies were trying to calm themselves down, Twilight was wondering. She was wondering why so few bullets had hit them. She had heard the sound of dozens upon dozens of bullets being fired, yet there only seemed to be a twoscore of bullet-holes in the cabin's back wall.
She stood up carefully, so as not to cut herself on the broken glass, and looked out of the space where the window used to be. She propped her front hooves up on the window ledge so she could poke her head out further, and she looked straight down. She saw the sea fast approaching. Then she looked up, and saw that the zeppelin's balloon had been riddled with bullet holes, and it was deflating fast. As their speed of descent rapidly increased, and the sea was getting closer and closer, all Twilight could do was black out, her unconscious body falling out of the window, dropping some 25 metres into the ocean.