//------------------------------// // The Disappearance Of Flight MH370 // Story: CMC Watch Bedtime Stories // by Lord Blundergosh //------------------------------// As Rarity laid the strips of haybacon on the tray, her sister hawkishly observed the absentminded way she carried herself. She couldn’t help but think back to lunchtime when her friends caught her wearing that exact same look. Shaking off the urge to revisit the conversation that followed yet again, Sweetie didn’t need to search hard for the next video. There was already a title that sprung to her mind that perfectly suited what she needed then and there. The Disappearance of Flight MH370 Without the slightest hesitation, Sweetie clicked said story the second it appeared in her sights. The video opened on the sight of three men, the closest of whom looking through binoculars, all intently keeping close watch on the sea from their place on the ship. Patiently, she eyed her sister from the corner of her eye in anticipation of any shift in demeanor. While she couldn’t see Rarity’s face from where she sat, she did notice an unmistakable downturn in her work rate as the narrator discussed the cancellation of a highly publicized search effort which lasted three years and covered 120 thousand square kilometers of ocean. Despite all the attention it got and the cutting edge technology involved in the search effort, it had gotten the authorities no closer to finding the missing Flight MH370. Rarity halted her movement mid putting the haybacon in the oven as the intro played out. “Is something up?” “Hm? Oh! It’s nothing wrong at all. I just remembered that one story you talked about at dinner a couple days ago.” Rarity kept herself from turning around as she closed the oven. “The Fatima Lady, was it? It sounded so nice, I thought you’d want to show me that one.” “Is this story bothering you?”, Sweetie Belle asked in a tone that was a tad more suspicious than concerned. Rarity finally turned around, carrying butter, milk and eggs from the fridge, “No it’s perfectly alright, I was only surprised. Besides, you’ve earned your break, you should spend it how you please.” Thinking it might be optimal to lay off for now, Sweetie simply let Rarity sift through the cabinets for the cinnamon and vanilla. She turned her attention back to the screen to see the sun shining on a gargantuan flying machine souring above the clouds. While she couldn’t help but be in awe of this “airplane”, humans feared getting onto them and for good reason. While statistics pointed to flight as the safest way to travel, any mistake no matter how minuscule could spell disaster for all on board. Rarity was somewhat surprised by the amount of resentment that was manifesting within her as she listened to the narrator speak. As a means of pushing aside her discomfort, she decided to keep busying herself with the meal prep. So wrapped up in cracking the eggs into the bowl she was that Rarity didn’t even notice the way her sister visibly deflated, ears pressing down onto her head. As the scene switched to two pilots at the control room, the narrator mused on what might have been going through the heads of the passengers boarding the titular plane. They probably reminded themselves that the flight path from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing, China is one that MH370 and its crew of twelve led by Captain Zaharia Ahmad Shah was highly familiar with. Knowing this, the passengers must have had no way to expect being apart of the most mystifying disappearances in recent memory. Very few is known for certainty about the incident in question and what is understood has become muddied. This is thanks in no small part to the wild speculation and conspiracy theories that gave rise in the absence of concrete data and was exacerbated the international media’s attention as well as the profiteers who sought to exploit the tragedy for personal gain. Whilst Sweetie sat through this unwanted reminder of her time with the Foal Free Press, Rarity quietly grumbled something about vultures and wanting to see Twilight “put them in their place”. An illustration depicting the interior of a building looking out over an airstrip occupied by three planes, presumably Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Taking flight from this airport, Malaysian Airlines’ MH370 had set course for Beijing Capital International Airport for the next thirty-eight minutes. As they switched from Malaysian to Vietnamese Air Traffic Control, Captain Shah signed off with the now infamous farewell: “Goodnight Malaysia MH370”. From that point on, it was never seen again. “Hey, um… Rarity?” Seeing that she got the mare’s attention, Sweetie continued, “Have you ever thought about what your last words would be?” That put a pause to her whisking she had just started, “Sorry, what do you mean?” Sweetie Belle stirred in her seat, “Well, let’s say you knew you were about to die. What would you want your last words to be before you kick the bucket?” “Well, I really haven’t thought about that in much detail. I suppose it would have to depend on the circumstances and who I’m saying it to.” “Then what if it was me or mom and dad?” There was a pause where Rarity bought herself time to think by sprinkling the rest of the ingredients into the mixture. “I… would still need time to think about it.”, she finally answered. “But no matter what I might say for my parting words, it will end with me telling you how much I love you all.” Looking on as her sister turned around to finish whisking, Sweetie let the conversation die then and there as the air gave way to the narrator’s voice; she nearly forgot it was there. Something had been said about a “transponder” device on the plane being turned off, preventing it from being detected by Vietnamese radar. Multiple attempts had been made to contact the crew via satellite phone. This should have still worked in the event that all onboard communications had malfunctioned, yet no one would answer. Since then, this has been interpreted as a sign of a potential hijacking or sabotage by terrorists. However, since no terror group had come forward to take credit for the plane’s disappearance, this theory was quickly dismissed. “Why would they want to risk getting caught by telling everyone they did it? Actually, what even is a terrorist?” Doubting that Rarity knew the answer either, Sweetie opted to stay quiet. Once it became clear that the plane most likely crashed into ocean, search parties from Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore were quickly assembled to comb every inch of the vast stretch of water between Vietnam and China. With so much water to cover through and not even knowing where to start, the forty ships and thirty-four aircraft searching day and night fruitlessly struggled to find anything for weeks on end. Even with twenty-six countries in total joining the search, no real progress was made. As a result, there was intense criticism of the officials in charge of the search efforts by the distraught families of those onboard. Rarity felt that anger was a tad misplaced. “I think I’d know who’s to blame.” Sweetie’s ears flicked towards Rarity’s muttering. “What do you mean?” Stuttering as her eyes shifted left and right, Rarity stuttered out, “Oh uh, I just think that they might be making more progress if they had Detective Rarity on the case!” As she performed her iconic hair flip, she strained to keep up her cocky grin; she was so glad none of the victim’s families were around to witness her sorry display of tact. The narrator made it clear that the odds were never in the search team’s favor and they could not be held entirely at fault for the operation’s failure. That being said, there were also some major missteps that could warrant criticism. Specifically, the first four days of the search took place in the wrong location. This was especially damaging for the first 48 hours, after which important clues and evidence often quickly diminish in cases like this. Still, there were some things that the investigation was able to determine. They were able to pinpoint the moment of the plane’s disappearance as taking place during the interaction between Malaysian and Vietnamese airspace. Sweetie Belle eyed the map of Malaysia and realized both halves of the country were shaped like horns; granted she couldn’t decide whether the top half looked more like Chrysalis’ or Sombra’s, but she was confident that the outline of the bottom half looked like a big and healthy alicorn horn. Represented as growing red lines on the map, MH370’s path was shown taking a sharp turn after clearing the Malaysian mainland, doubling back in on itself and flying back over the peninsula before turning once again, then flying straight towards the Indian Ocean. The way the plane’s wing dipped for an unusually long time whilst flying over Captain Shah’s hometown of Penang invited speculation that this was a symbolic farewell to the pilot’s childhood home. Sweetie Belle took a deep breath through her nose. “He probably really missed his mom and dad.” Rarity didn’t notice her sister’s probing. Not because she was busy dipping the first slice of bread into mix. Rather, she was contemplating what that “goodbye” made by the plane to the pilot’s hometown might have meant; perhaps someone whoever took over the plane knew the pilot personally? This was proving surprisingly effective at getting her mind off of what had been gnawing at her all day. This wasn’t the only bizarre aspect of the plane’s flight path. It also flew back almost exactly along the Malaysian-Thai border. Consensus says this action was a deliberate effort to avoid detection by either country’s radar. It’s suspected that the crew would’ve known something was wrong by this point. This begged the question, why did it seem that nobody onboard tried to stop whoever was diverting them? “Do you think they really were held hostage?”, Sweetie asked. “It’s hard to say for certain, but if that did happen then something did not go according to plan for the hijackers and everything else went awry following that. I can’t imagine somepony going through the trouble of taking an entire aircraft hostage just to crash it in the middle of the ocean.”. Some aviation experts have asserted that the plane was depressurized, depriving the cabin of oxygen until the passengers and crew went unconscious. “Hold on, how come I’ve never heard of airships having that problem?”, Sweetie Belle asked. “Twilight once told me these planes reach heights far beyond what a zeppelin can. This wouldn’t happen on an airship so long as it doesn’t soar so high that the air becomes too thin to breathe.”, Rarity explained before pausing. “And as long nopony decides to cut any corners, of course.”, she muttered under her breath. The narrator suggested that some comfort could be found in the idea that all those onboard likely died painlessly in their sleep before the plane even crashed. As he proceeded to go over the specifics of how they were able to determine the most likely area that the plane could’ve crashed, Rarity shuttered ever so slightly. “I’ve fallen from the sky more than I’d care for. Yet, the thought of waking up and looking out the window only for the last thing I see is the dark surface of the ocean getting rapidly closer is still a dreadful for me to imagine.” The location they were able to narrow down the crash to was still a very expansive area in the southern Indian Ocean. This region was mapped in even less detail than the surface of the moon and suffered from tropical storms as well as some of the most tumultuous seas on the planet. Sweetie could remember times when she and her friends went kayaking down the river and had near death experiences by going too far down stream. She didn’t want to think about how choppy the waters in the Indian Ocean must have been. “Did he just imply that they’ve explored the moon?” Rarity remembered all the new places she traveled to during the quest to thwart the Storm King. At the time, she joked that the only place she and her friends could go next that’d surpass everywhere they’d been would be the moon. She must look like an amateur next to this race of space rangers. Though it is strange how these humans decided to try and colonize the moon before they fully explored the ocean. Normalized interaction between Seaquestria and the surface world had sparked an interest in the deep sea as the next frontier to settle. Would humans even be impressed by the plans Twilight and her council had cooked up? After more than a year, a fragment of MH370’s wing washed on the shore of Réunion Island, thousands of miles away from its point of take off, Kuala Lumpur. The specific part that was found was called a flaperon and this surprisingly tells experts a lot about the flight’s final moments. Both sisters waited to hear the narrator elaborate on that only to be disappointed when he dismissed experts’ opinion as theories and speculation before moving on. “You would think he’d at least explain how that one piece of evidence can reveal as much as experts claim.”, Rarity said as she flipped the first piece of toast in the pan onto its other side. Sweetie sighed, “He’ll probably just wait until the end to start sharing all the theories.” As the story switched to a plane flying off into the night sky, the Malaysian Government and Australian Transport Safety Bureau called off the search, concluding that an oxygen deficiency had incapacitated everyone onboard, leaving the plane to keep flying on autopilot until ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean. “But what about that weird route the plane took?” Rarity agreed, “The fact that route helped the plane avoid detection cannot be mere coincidence.” This was only one among many questions left unanswered by this explanation. For instance, why was communications on the aircraft turned off? How come the the emergency air supply didn’t deploy? Why would the plane dip its wing whilst flying straight if autopilot was on? As per usual, the lack of a satisfactory explanation has given rise to conspiracy theories ranging from plausible to absurd. Sweetie was glad they didn’t wait long at all for the theories to come and was ready to hear them all out. Over a bird’s eye view of an island, the narrator reciting explanations given by conspiracy theorists. According to one theory, the flight was detected by radar on approach to the US military base on the atoll of Diego Garcia; the base possibly instructed MH370 to land and then shot it down after it failed to respond to warnings. Sweetie simply frowned, “Didn’t they have any way of forcing the plane down safely? Why did they need to shoot them down?” “I don’t remember most of the worst villains I’ve faced even being this quick to take a life.” Then again it was possible that Rarity and her friends were spared from witnessing the absolute worst that monsters like Chrysalis and Sombra were capable of. But if she’s seen more restraint from them when dealing with sworn enemies, what secret was so important that this U.S. felt it necessary to act the way it did? Twilight never described that country as being so sinister as this theory suggested. The basis of the claim is the geography of the area where the plane was last recorded, combined with its route, fuel reserves and available landing areas, all of which were consistent with a flight path towards the island. “I didn’t think of all that.”, the Sweetie realized. “Rarity, how do sleuths spot so many details like that?” The mare froze mid dunking the next slice of bread into the mixture. “Um, that’s a trade secret!”, she chuckled awkwardly. “What? You were only a PI a few times.” “Trade secret!” In truth, Rarity knew she wouldn’t have noted things like geography and fuel reserves, that was more Twilight’s style; still, Celestia be damned, Detective Rarity still had more flair! However, the FBI dismissed these allegations, saying there was nothing suspicious about the flight’s path, especially in relation to the military base. Some other theories claimed the plane was taken over remotely in order to foil a hijacking. This idea was echoed by the Malaysian Prime Minister in 2018. Though he didn’t give any indication for who he suspected was the culprit. There were other theories similar to the first one mentioned that the aircraft was shot down, except this time the blame was planted on three different countries: Russia, China or North Korea. “Wait, didn’t they say that China was where the plane was heading?”, Rarity noted. “Yeah… they said this flight goes there all the time. Why would China shoot it down this time?” This argument would have little credence if it weren’t for a prior incident where another Malaysian Airlines flight, MH17, was alleged to have been shot down by Russian anti-air missiles. Sweetie squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. Every time Russia came in these stories, they always seemed so shady. After, the Aleshenka story, she probably shouldn’t put it past them to do something like this, even if it still didn’t make sense to her. “It’s not like it was necessary to kill that sweet old lady, either.” Yet, MH17 was shot down in Ukrainian airspace, whereas MH370 disappeared far from any zones of conflict. “Why is that important?” “I believe it’s implying that the Russians are enemies with the Ukrainians”, , Rarity answered. “Hence, it wouldn’t be so surprising if the aircraft were to be shot down there where it might be mistaken for their foes.” “Ohh. So, if the plane wasn’t anywhere near places that Russians see as threatening to them, then it wouldn’t make sense for them to shoot at it. Right?” “That’s what I’m guessing at least.” The next scene was what looked like a shot of the plane’s interior, all the passengers sitting unconscious in their seats with the exception of one man standing in the center of it all. This was meant to illustrate a different theory put forward by aviation expert Jeff Wise alleging the MH370’s vanishing to be the result of a highjacking. The theory revolves around the twenty employees of an avionics company specializing in stealth technology called Freescale Semiconductor who were on the flight that day. What followed was a lot of tangential info and technobabble that neither the mare nor filly could follow, all meant to support the assertion that the plane had in fact moved north and not south. Their attention had been slipping during all the talk of satellite data until the focus switched to the flight’s passengers list, which identified two Ukrainians and a Russian onboard. “So, did the plane get out of control because a fight broke out between those three passengers and then it just went too far?”, Sweetie wondered aloud. Not much was known about these three individuals besides the Ukrainians coming from a former Soviet naval base and the Russian’s penchant for scuba diving. “I believe the implication is that they’re working together.” Sweetie cocked an eyebrow, “But I thought you said the Russians and Ukrainians didn’t get along?” “No people are a monolith, dear.”, her sister chided lightly, before turning her attention back to the prench toast. “Plus, as Twilight has told me, alliances and rivalries are very fickle things. Countries can sometimes go from being enemies to friends depending on the circumstances.” “So, I guess it’s sort of like our current status with Diamond Tiara.” She hadn’t been their bully for a quite a while and had began acting very kind and courteous to the Crusaders when they were going through their worst times. She even offered a small sum of her allowance to Scootaloo upon hearing about what happened to her house. Still, most of the time that heiress was their most standoffish acquaintance and at worst a pain in their flank. Sweetie Belle always flip-flopped on whether that made Diamond Tiara their frenemy. Wise postulated that the Russian came on board carrying scuba gear and diving masks. He waited until the crew had become too preoccupied and then slipped in once Electronics & Equipment bay was left unattended. From there, he sabotaged the plane’s communications, plugged in a device meant to trick the satellite tracking it, and depressurized the cabin. All three men were able to stay conscious by breathing oxygen through their diving masks. Once the passengers and crew were unconscious took control of MH370 and flew north to Kazakhstan. The inside of the plane was then re-pressurized before the anyone onboard could die. The twenty employees from Freescale Semiconductor were put to work on Russia’s stealth program, whilst everyone else from the were effectively silenced. Rarity was getting more absorbed by the description of this supposed plot, had this only been a narrative not involving real creatures she certainly wouldn’t have any shame in admitting that it’d make a nice read. The narrator initially questioned the plausibility of this theory, citing the high likelihood of everyone on board perishing after only a few minutes of the cabin being depressurized. This would include the Freescale Semiconductor who were the primary targets of this alleged kidnapping. Yet, it’s possible that the three hijackers only needed a few minutes to take control of the aircraft without any resistance, at which point they would turn the emergency oxygen supply on. If Rarity and Sweetie Belle had to choose a favorite so far both of them would have gone with this one. Over an illustration of the two pilots sitting at the aircraft’s controls, yet another theory was recited, this time claiming that MH370 crashed in one of the remote jungles of Cambodia. This one was popularized by British video producer Ian Wilson, who claimed to have spotted the plane’s wreckage on Google Maps. Rarity spun around to eye the screen when something extremely odd about that sentence caught her attention. “How in the blazes are the plane’s whereabouts still a mystery if someone was able draw a map leading straight to it?” Rarity evidently wasn’t the only one who felt like this story was horseapples, though for different reasons. While there was photographic evidence of an aircraft in the middle of the Cambodian Jungle, the plane in the image appeared to be roughly ten percent larger than MH370’s model. Another proposed theory posited a fire breaking out on the plane, the smoke from which incapacitated everyone onboard as they were turning back around towards Malaysia to find a place to land until they ran out of fuel. As reasonable as it sounded, this one still didn’t explain why the transponder was turned off or the strange, specific route MH370 took back across Malaysia. Then came the most popular theory, one which centered around the subject of the next illustration, the plane’s pilot Captain Shah; this immediately got both sisters attention. Many invested in this story have concluded that the captain, intending to commit suicide and make sure his body never be found, planned this tragedy himself. Sweetie felt her mouth sink into a frown; it was as if the air in the room became so heavy it even weighed her cheeks down. Rarity could also feel the weight that a subject like suicide always brought. However, her attention was then immediately pulled elsewhere by the timer, signaling her to take the haybacon out of the oven. In the time leading up to the flight, Shah had been practicing strange routes on his simulator, which he used in a separate room, isolated from others. Records on his computer showed that he practiced the exact route the plane took that day, but the final destination could not be determined. On top of that, it was also made public that Shah was going through marital problems in the months before the crash. This theory also explained why the plane dipped its wing for so long over Shah’s hometown of Penang, why the transponder was switched off and the precise route taken back over the country which only an experienced pilot can pull off. Sweetie Belle wasn’t thrilled with seeing something like this so soon after sitting through a story about an entire family committing mass suicide last night. “What do they keep doing that?”, she mumbled. “Excuse me?” “Why did he have to do all this?”, she turned around. “What did any of those people do to make him decide he needed to take their lives too? How is that fair?” Rarity didn’t give her answer immediately, only looking back at her sister with pitiful eyes before turning away. She really took her time to cooking the last slice in the pan, allowing the narrator to continue on uninterrupted. Sweetie Belle eventually slumped into her chair as her form deflated. Soon though, as the narrator took the time to remind the audience of the victim’s families and gave his condolences to them, she felt two arms wrap around her from behind and her sister’s chin rest atop her head. The image of the plane sitting on the ocean floor faded into a black screen, signaling the story’s end. “Sweetie.” “Hm?” The mare silently exhaled, “Is there something bothering you?” Looking down at the ground, she said, “I… learned about that zeppelin accident during school announcements this morning.” Rarity could already feel her throat tightening up. The school’s announcements this morning broadcast the newly unveiled “Equestrian Paradise” and its tragic maiden voyage. It lifted off from Las Pegasus to begin its journey to the Crystal Empire only to wind up making an emergency stop in Vanhoover after a terrible fire broke out. Not everypony was able to get off before the rest of the ship erupted after landing. News headlines were amok with descriptions of mayhem and wild speculations of the death count. According to this morning’s edition of the Ponyville Gazette, of the 200 passengers onboard at least 40 died and over 80 were injured in some fashion. “I see”, the mare croaked. Another brief period of silence fell upon the room. Sweetie thought about how to breach the subject further and what she could say that could coax the answer out of her sister. But given how Rarity seemed to just be waiting on her to speak up, it seemed she’d just have to go straight to the point. Turning around and kneeling in her seat to meet her sister somewhat at eye level, Sweetie Belle asked her, “Were mom and dad on that cruise?” Rarity was dreading this exact question, but at least she’d been expecting it. “Yes.”, she said with all the composure she could muster. “As much as I hoped otherwise, it really was the exact ship they were scheduled to go on.” Sweetie could feel that sentence pierce her chest. She had to try real hard to keep the sheer unreality of this whole situation from forcing her into a breakdown. “Ha-…have we heard back from them lately?” Rarity didn’t verbally answer; her sigh said enough, though she still shook her head to confirm. She then pulled her little sister into her chest and rubbed the back of her head. “I’ll try to get ahold of Twilight and see what she can tell me. If I can’t, I might have to head to Las Pegasus to see if they’re still at their hotel and if that doesn’t pan out I’ll go to Vanhoover to check every hospital there.” Sweetie Belle wrapped her forelegs around Rarity’s torso in a vice grip. “Please don’t leave town. I-I don’t…please, just don’t-“ “This isn’t easy for me either but I’ll only be away for a short time. Only a few days at most.” “Well a lot can happen in just a short time!” Rarity went silent, listening to her sister’s shaky and uneven deep breaths and finally noticing the wetness soaking into her chest tuft. She once again began running her hoof through Sweetie’s mane. “There, there.” She then placed her hooves on Sweetie Belle’s shoulders and gently pushed her back to reveal her leaking eyes and sniffling muzzle. “Listen, dear. How about we wait a week and if we don’t get anything from mom and dad in the mail, we could head to Canterlot together and ask Twilight if she can help us find them.” Sweetie eased herself with a deep breath and replied, “Can you promise nothing is going to happen to you too?” That got a wince out of her big sister. “I…I’m sure nothing is going to happen to either of us. And if Mother and Father turn out to be alright, you’d have even less to worry about.” Unfortunately that didn’t bring Sweetie much comfort. “It’s just that…you’ve gone on so many adventures and came back okay so far. And then suddenly one freak accident might mean my parents are gone, just like that!”, she paused to wipe her nose. “So, do I now have to worry that I might never see you again next time there’s a bad guy you need to stop?” “Yes, a freak accident.”, Rarity bitterly thought to herself. She might have believed it too, if she hadn’t learned from Twilight weeks ago the investigations being made into the company responsible for crafting that airship, New Horizons, for allegedly cutting corners in spite of mandatory safety regulations. She looked back down at Sweetie Belle to find she’d dipped her head down to wipe more tears from her eyes. Rarity took a breath, then put her hoof under her sister’s chin and lifted her head back up so that they could look eye to eye again. “Here’s something I can promise you Sweetie.”, she said before lowering her head to the filly’s level and nuzzling against her cheek. “Even if something were to happen to me or even mother and father, just remember that doesn’t mean you’ll be alone; you will never be forced to fend for yourself, not so long as our friends and family have anything to say about it.” “…I hope they’re okay.”, Sweetie said as she nuzzled her sister back, letting more tears flow freely down her cheeks. For her little sister’s sake, Rarity held herself back from any crying; now was the time to be strong for her and as much as she wanted to right now, the sobbing would wait for if the worst came to pass. “So do I.” None were aware of the eavesdropper who sat at the top of the stairs. “Ah guess we were right afterall.”, Apple Bloom said; now though, dear Celestia she wished they’d been wrong. “What do ya think we should say ta them?” She craned her neck around to see Scootaloo too preoccupied looking up at the ceiling to respond. “Scoots!” “Huh?” “Should we ask AJ and Rarity if we can stay here longer? Ah just get the feeling Sweetie might need some shoulders ta durin’ all of this.” Scootaloo shrugged, “I mean, it’s not like she won’t have her sister to keep her company. And, maybe some space might be just what she needs. For a little bit, anyway.” “Ah guess that wouldn’t hurt much. Still, we should check on her by Monday, at least.” “Let’s just hope things turn out alright.” “Darlings, I made that breakfast for dinner I promised you this morning. Come down!” Apple Bloom began trotting down the steps. “This gon’ be awkward.”, she mumbled. Scootaloo made a motion to follow her before immediately stopping to look back up at the ceiling. She could’ve sworn that a second ago, through all the wailing winds outside, she’d heard a strange hissing noise coming from right above. Then, out of nowhere, several bumps and creaks sounded from the roof through the ceiling before abruptly ending. Scootaloo dashed to the window to get a look at whatever made all that noise, but nothing could be seen poking out from the roof’s edge. When she turned her attention elsewhere, she saw something she had trouble making out and rubbing her eyes didn’t change it in the slightest. An indistinct black shape flying off into the distance on what had to be massive wings.