//------------------------------// // Crash Landing // Story: The Ace // by Erstwhile Tail //------------------------------// Angel bunny was being difficult, again. This time he was refusing to take an antibiotic, he had recently cut himself badly whilst trying to get out of eating a salad without carrots. The medicine was just a precaution to avoid an infection. "Come on angel," Fluttershy said, trying in vain to get the bunny to comply, "You don't want an infection, do you?" She reached out with a outstretched hoof, on it was the antibiotic pill. "You remember the last time you got an infection, how it kept us bot-" Before she could finish Angel, with all the swiftness of, well, a bunny, kicked the pill out of her hoof. He made a gesture that Fluttershy was very glad only she could understand and bolted for the front door. "Angel wait!" Fluttershy scooped up the pill from where it had landed and quickly followed. Fluttershy ran out the front door, quickly searching for Angel, she spotted him sitting in the open front lawn. She approached him. "Angel. Can you pretty please..." She stopped as Angle turned and pointed towards the mountains of Canterlot. Fluttershy followed his paw, and gasped. There was something flying along the open meadow, it was big and oddly colored, with it's belly white and it's back brown and green. One of it's limbs seemed to be on fire, it seemed to growl and roar in a constant sound of pain. There was the sound of fireworks, only without the cheerful lights, the limb exploded, as if someone had lit TNT inside of it. The... thing, spiraling, made a complete barrel roll after the limb was sheered off, before it's nose punched the ground, breaking the fall. Something that had been spinning upfront broke off, and it bounced away, kicking up dirt as it went. The nose had forced the creature to land more evenly on it's back the other wing being bent severely as it hit the ground. The nose dug into the earth, the creature sliding to a stop a couple hundred yards or so from the initial impact. Fluttershy raised a hoof to her mouth, as smoke and flames filled the sky. She turned to Angel, the bunny had nothing to say. "Angel, get my first aid kit, and tell Harry I need his help, as quick as you can!" Before she had finished speaking she was already taking off, flying towards the site of the hurt creature. Fluttershy had never seen anything like it, as she flew closer she realized that this was no creature, it was a machine. Perhaps it operated similarly to Pinkie's petal powered flying contraption. There were holes along the main body, and one of it's wings was missing, fire and smoke poured out of the front of the craft. Whatever had been in there had exploded on impact, the heat alone made Fluttershy hesitate, she landed a couple hundred feet from the burning wreck. The wind blew the smoke towards her, the stench was like nothing she'd ever smelt before. It was a cross between burning lamp oil and a steam engine. Harry, her resident brown bear, quickly lumbered to her side, Angel bunny and the first aid kit on his back. Harry made a grumbling sound. "I don't think there's anypony injured... let's go get some help for his fire before it..." Before Fluttershy could finish, something moved in a glass enclosed part of the craft. At first Fluttershy thought she'd imagined it, then it moved again. She trotted forward, then into a gallop as she saw a glove covered hoof, weakly hitting the glass. "Harry! Flip this thing over! There's somepony inside!" Fluttershy called out. John's head throbbed, as he cracked one of his eyes open, he was upside down, or sideways. He couldn't tell. The smell of burning oil and blood filled his nose. What happened? Where was he, had he crashed? On takeoff or landing? He couldn't remember the date or what he was doing in the Spitfire in the first place. He limply lifted his arm, it didn't appear broken but he was weak, to weak to open the canopy and crawl out. Smoke began to fill the cockpit, soon he would suffocate, he made a fist and tried to pound on the glass, but his movements were to weak and in vain. Blood was rushing to his head, his vision was starting to turn red. Blood had been gushing from his head where he vaguely remembered slamming his head into. Suddenly the plane rocked back and forth, slightly at first then faster and further. The burning warplane was finally rocked onto it's belly, the sudden jolt finally made John register the searing pain in his arm, leg and his stomach. The sharp pain made him cry out. The pain was like nothing he had ever felt before, he looked at his right arm, he had been shot. When had that happened? Suddenly there was someone on the outside of his plane, calling out to him, the voice was defiantly female, and the figure was equine, with a pair of wings, a yellow coat and pink mane. Her huge eyes made contact with his, and she turned her head and called out to someone else, before turning back to him. She waved. How hard had he hit his head? He tried to call out to her, but all that came out was a groan and a cough, his oxygen mask suddenly filled with something wet and warm, he ripped it off, and blood spilled out of it. The creature's face took on a look that must of been concern. Her eyes scanned over him, before freezing, her huge pupils suddenly becoming pinpricks and she covered her mouth with her hooves. He followed her gaze and looked down to see his leg had been severely broken, a lump that could have been the bone was pushing against the inside of the trousers and to his horror, the control stick, or what was left of it had impaled itself into his abdomen, he grabbed at it, panic surging into him, he felt the slight movements of it inside him. The pain and sickness he felt overwhelmed him. As the canopy was ripped off by a bear John's eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out for the second time that day. "Hey, HEY! Can you hear me!?" Fluttershy called to the strange creature. It was not a pony, but something else, something she'd never seen before. "Harry help me get him out of this!" Fluttershy coughed as the smoke blew in her face, the heat seared, the flames threatened to engulf them all if they didn't hurry. She bent down and bit on the straps holding the thing to it's seat. She tried not to gag as the taste of blood met her. She tore the straps, freeing him from his contraption. Harry quickly, and gently, lifted him out of the craft, and carried him away from the crash. By then, several weather pegasi armed with clouds full of rain and snow from the cloud curtain had arrived and began to douse the fire, the fire being contained fairly quickly. The smoke being dispersed by other Pegasi. Harry carried the creature into the cottage, Fluttershy quickly grabbing bandages and other medical supplies. "Put him on the table!" Fluttershy told Harry, the bear grunted in reply before doing so. Fluttershy, armed with a pair of scissors, quickly cut the cloths away from him, hopefully her friend Rarity could repair them or make him new ones, and then began bandaging up the injured creature, applying bandages to the many wounds. She even, with a little effort, managed to set it's broken leg before bandaging it up tightly so as the bone would not shift. With the help of some of her animals, she managed to stop the bleeding on all but one wound. The one caused by the object impaled in his stomach. She bit down on it. She tasted faint blood. She needed to be quick but careful as the rod was stopping the creature bleeding out. But she needed to pull it out, in order to use the healing potions she'd brewed with Zecora. She took a deep breath, taking in the rusty smell. If she didn't do this right, he could die. She pulled out the foreign object. Instantly Blood poured out of him, the color draining from his face. Fluttershy needed to find something to dress this wound long enough for her to give him the potions. She spotted what she needed and quickly bit down on a nearby tablecloth, a gift from Rarity for Hearthswarming. Fluttershy stuffed the hole in the chest with it, applying as much pressure as she could. "Harry, apply pressure here." She gestured to the wad of tablecloth currently preventing the thing from dying. Once Harry had taken over, Fluttershy quickly looked for a vein to check for a pulse, she pulled off the scarf and felt around the base of the neck, after some frantic searching she found a pulse. Indicating that the pilot was still alive. Without wasting any time, she pried his mouth open and poured the contents of the healing potions into it. She tilted his head forward, opening the path to his stomach and he swallowed as a reflex. The various scrapes and scratches, as well as the massive wound in his stomach began to close and heal. Fluttershy would give him a few more before she was satisfied that the wounds were closed enough to move him. She moved him upstairs onto her bed. Hours later, Fluttershy changed the gauze on her guest for the umpteenth time, whilst applying antibiotics to hopefully prevent an infection. Her tablecloth had been ruined in her hasty and frantic decision, hopefully Rarity would understand. She had saved the things life, in a matter of only a couple minutes she'd been able to save a life. Something she didn't take lightly in her mind. What if he'd crashed further away, what if he hadn't been able to land the craft. Fluttershy pushed those thoughts out of her mind as she tucked the creature back in. She walked over to a nearby small coffee table and chair, she laid down, sipped some tea and resumed her book, though she wasn't very interested in it as her mind began to ponder just exactly who this creature is and what had happened to him, and his craft. "Where am I?" A weak voice came from her bed. Fluttershy gasped and trotted to the side of the bed. "You're ok, I patched you up, just rest for now. Ok?" She smiled sweetly down on him, a look of shock and confusion morphed on his own face. "What the bloody hell are you!?" The craft had crashed through the barn door and slammed into the supports of the hay loft, a fire starting amongst the dry hay below, soon the timber supports would go up. Applebloom had been in the hay loft sweeping out the hay that had gotten wet the night before when it had happened. Whilst she was ok, there was the slight problem of a raging fire below her. There was a banging sound, kind like knocking on a window, then a loud crack of thunder rang out, startling Applebloom who fell back. Scrambling to her hooves she peered over the side of the loft railing, the glass roof had been slid back, and a tall thin creature clambered out, coughing and stumbling around before falling to his knees. Suddenly the supports for the loft had caught fire, and were losing their structural support. The one that had been hit by the craft gave way, and the whole loft listed dangerously to one side, Applebloom lost her footing and slit down rear first, towards the fire below. She felt her small body fall into open air. She grabbed on whatever she could with her forelegs. She pried open an eye and found she had caught the broom, which had jammed itself in-between broken supports for the loft that had been left hanging from the collapsing attic. She dangled over the fire, smoke and soot stinging her eyes and lungs. Tears filled her eyes and she coughed violently. The remaining soaked hay from the loft falling below around the fire, slowing it's progress. "HELP!" She called out, desperately, "SOMEPONY HELP ME!" "Warte, ich komme!" Came an accented voice. Applebloom looked down to see the creature quickly climbing up the ladder, ignoring it's own injuries as it grunted in pain. The wood boards groaned as they bore his weight, he edged forward, a forelimb outstretched, with even more limbs poking out of it, Applebloom thought she would puke at the sight. "Nimm meine Hand, beeile dich!" The strange creature spoke a language that Applebloom didn't understand, in a mix of fear and confusion, she instinctively tried to get away, she was not strong enough to pull herself up so she shuffled her way along the broom, which was beginning to bend under her weight. "Nein, hör auf, du bringst das Gleichgewicht durcheinander!" The creature called out, "Hör auf, dich zu bewegen, ich kom-" Another support beam gave way, and the already steeply tilted loft went nearly vertical the creature lost it's footing and fell over, sliding down the near vertical surface, it fumbled for something on it's leg before driving a heavy duty knife into the wood, stopping him mere inches away from going completly over the side. The fire was intense now, the craft was now buried under wet hay that had fallen. The creature reached out, "Bitte vertraue mir." His voice was sincere, and there was a plea in his eyes. She looked at the outstretched limb, then down to the roaring fire. Should she trust the creature, or was this a trick? "I-" She started then her words turned to screams as the broom handle snapped and she plunged towards the fire below. She clenched her eyes shut and waited for the impact, suddenly she was grabbed by her fore hoof and her fall sopped. She opened her eyes, and saw the creature, one forelimb on the knife which was now in one of the remaining limbs, and another gripping her foreleg. He hauled her up, to him, and against his chest which she gripped tightly in terror, as she began to cry. "Du bist jetzt sicher, shh du bist jetzt sicher" The creature unstuck his knife, and resheathed it in it's leg, then began to move along the beams, his upper limbs were incredibly strong, able to take both their weight as they swung. The roar of the fire and smoke causing both to tear and cough. He swung from rafter to rafter, the heat from the fire rising intensely as Applebloom clung to him in sheer terror. Suddenly he jumped down to the barn floor, Applebloom giving out a short yelp in surprise. He hit the ground, and rolled, absorbing the impact. He then began to run for the hole in the wall of the barn door, just as the barn roof collapsed. "Scheisse!"