Agate's hopes were dashed when she burst out of the treeline and found herself facing a broad expanse of snow. The trees had slowed her pursuers, but in the open meadow there would be no escape. She was tired, so tired, and she knew what little magic was left in her horn would do her no good now.
It felt as though she had been running for days, but she had left the small settlement of Constancy only hours before, her heart filled with joy. Twins... twins bring a blessing and a curse, she thought ruefully, recalling the Gryphon adage. Flintspark had asked Agate to be the foal's sun-mare, and Agate was determined to be the best one ever. When word came late in the day that Flintsparks' time was near, she had cantered up the miles-long trail in a tizzy, even though she had to be back at work the next morning. The thought of mother and foals brought a brief smile to Agate's muzzle despite the danger she faced. Feldspar and Cream Agate... Agate's heart had leapt when Flintspark had named the foals, gracing her with a warm smile as she named the filly, but now tears filled her eyes as she realized she'd never get to see her grow up.
Agate's headlong flight had begun barely outside the village's brushwall. She had managed to stay ahead while among the trees and boulders of the hillside forest, but as the land flattened the predators had closed in upon her. Several times, she had caught glimpses of them to the sides, and not until it was too late did she realized she had been herded to this spot.
After being hunted in the speckled dark under the dense pine canopy, the bright starkness of the moonlit snow dazzled her, and she blinked to clear her vision. It was only when she heard growling and the scrape of bark on bark among the trees that she realized she’d stopped running. Her sides heaved for breath and she felt as though she couldn't take another step, but when the first howl rang out in the woods, panic gripped her chest and she gathered her hooves under her. Looking up at the face of the Mare in the Moon, she whimpered to herself, “Help me...”
For a half-second, she thought she saw the ever-open eye flicker, but then the sound of paws charging through the snow dragged her attention away. She let the saddlebags slip from her lathered haunches, fear pushing her to dash out into the meadow, even as a voice in her head protested, The trees, don't leave the trees! You can't outrun them out here!
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~
“Set torque fifty percent, and, uh..., gimme full flaps.”
“Fifty percent torque set, below one-ten, verified, flaps full... set.”
“'Kay.”
"Flaps full...set. SET."
"Oh, for the Grower's sake- INDICATING, happy?"
"Thank you, before landing checklist complete. I suppose we can call that item finished, so let's proceed to the balked landing procedure."
Spin Drift yawned and bit off another sarcastic comment. He probably has a checklist for responding to those by now, anyway. Spin Drift could not recall a more exasperating flight -- the hours of being lectured on how to fly had nearly driven him to throttle the Pony in the seat next to him, Ledger De Mane. The de Hoofiland factory representative was certainly knowledgeable about the contents of the sales brochure for the new Twin Trotter aircraft. For the first hour of the flight, Spin Drift had listened, first in amazement, and then with growing dread, as Ledger praised the craft up one side and down the other. It had taken a few rude comments, but finally Spin Drift had gotten the message across, and Ledger had begun to limit his side of the conversation to the language on the flowcards. Exactly the language on the flowcards, Spin noted.
That was when Ledger decided it was time to begin Spin Drift's type checkout. The ridiculous attention to detail was wearing him down, and he had slowly begun to give in and mumble the right words in response to the other pony's challenges. I can’t wait to get this over with, he thought. 'Insurance requirements,' my right buttcheek. I bet Espresso put him up to this, and the little snot's milking it for all it's worth.
Spin Drift had been excited to get to fly a new type of aircraft, but having to deal with the orderly factory rep was robbing the experience of all the joy. Ledger de Mane's insistence on procedure, procedure, procedure was mind-numbing, and Spin couldn’t wait to throw the flowcards out the window. Again. He’d already done that shortly after takeoff, but when he had turned to say, “Oops,” Ledger was holding out a replacement for him.
“Here, from the second set of flowcards. As you know, de Hoofiland certifies every aircraft with two primary sets of ‘cards and one backup set, all of which are considered required equipment. Luckily, I have several spare sets with me, otherwise we might be operating in contravention to regulations right now.”
At that pont, Spin Drift realized that his reputation had preceded him.
Behind the two stallions, Espresso sat in the front row of the passenger section and leaned her muzzle against the window, staring out in utter boredom. She had disconnected her ‘phones from the intercom when the two up front had started bickering after takeoff, and now she was falling asleep from the droning of the engines. I still don’t know why we didn’t just designate Spin as our signing agent, she mused.
But she did know the reason. Several reasons, in fact. Spin Drift loved playing the part of a brash pilot. While he was skilled at reading weather and wringing performance out of an airplane, his neglect towards recordkeeping was a constant headache for Espresso. The transfer of the aircraft involved several cartons' worth of forms, files, and manuals, and leaving them in his charge was a bookkeeper's nightmare scenario.
Spin Drift was also impulsive and informal, and those two qualities that made him an awful choice to deal with anypony more important than Espresso herself – and that especially meant the manufacturer of their newest aircraft, whose goodwill and knowledge would be needed as the airline adapted to using and maintaining the larger, more powerful craft. Keeping Spin Drift from causing havoc with customers and suppliers was the reason he'd been assigned to the Trottinger Flight Center, and the task had fallen on Espresso's back in particular.
As Espresso looked out the window, she saw the dark forest canopy give way to a broad, silvery meadow. Faint shadows from the moon showed where some creature had stepped out of the forest and left tracks in the smooth expanse of snow. Make that a herd of them.
What she saw next made her rub a hoof across her watery eyes. There was a cluster of dark shapes near the center of the meadow. Sitting up, she leaned forward and shielded the window with a hoof, trying to block out any light from the interior. Below, she could see the lead animal come to a sudden stop, and the way the dot broadened made it appear that the creature had lain down in the snow. One of the following dots kept dashing along and crossed over the stationary animal, then veered off to the side. Meanwhile, the cluster of following shapes moved to encircle the first two. Espresso furrowed her brow, suddenly understanding what she was seeing. No herd animals act like that. They’re more like... a pack. Though somewhat morbid, events like this were common and well-known, and Espresso watched with a faint sadness, knowing that it was a necessary part of life in the Frostmane.
Then she saw a feeble burst of sparks above the fallen animal. She gasped and stared -- surely she had imagined it, for no animal could use magic in the fashion of a Unicorn. When she saw a second burst, she gave a horrified shout and began fumbling to plug in her ‘phones, then gave up and bolted for the cockpit.
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~
Agate felt her right forehoof catch on a rock, but she was too exhausted to catch herself. She pitched forward into the snow, and cold, sharp crystals filled her lungs as she gasped for air. The chill in her throat stunned her, and for a few seconds she lay where she fell. When she heard the labored breathing of the timberwolf closing in on her, it was too late to defend herself. Before she could stand or turn, the wolf raked her with it’s claws, and a searing pain spread across her flank. She screamed and attempted to dazzle the wolf, but only a few sparks shot from her horn.
The pain tore away her weariness, at least for the moment, and she stumbled to her hooves, whirling to look for her attacker. Under the bright moon, she could see what looked like dozens of dark shapes surrounding her, cutting off escape in any direction. Behind her, she heard a low snarl, and shuffled around to face the timberwolf that had led the pursuit. The movement brought a fresh wave of heat and pain to her flank, and she risked a glance at her injury.
She immediately wished she hadn’t, for the sight made her head swim. The cuts were deep; already her leg was covered in blood, and the snow around her hooves was dark. While she was staring at her wounds, the wolf charged.
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~
“Positive rate, flaps up.”
“Flaps up, set. … Flaps up, set.”
“Oh, uh... indicating?”
Ledger de Mane’s glare was lost on Spin Drift, who busied himself looking anywhere but at the Pony who continued to torment him with finicky language and repetitous procedures. He briefly wondered if anyone had ever tried to roll a Trotter. His imagination kicked in and provided him with a vision of Ledger reciting the procedures for the maneuver in a monotone voice. That’s it, Spin Drift thought, he’s officially the most boring Pony in the world. He kills fun before you even try to have it!
A clatter of hooves interrupted his musing, and suddenly Espresso was leaning over him, pointing towards the window and yelling. With the noise in the Trotter, he couldn’t hear a word she said, and tapped his ‘phones as her gesturing became more and more frantic.
Espresso whirled, snatched the microphone boom on Ledger's headset and yanked the 'phones from his head, shouting, “Look! Somepony’s down there!” She nearly punched Spin in the nose as she thrust her hoof towards the side window, pointing.
Spin Drift stared at her, open-mouthed, and then noticed Ledger de Mane behind her, his hooves clapped over his ears in surprised pain. In one motion, he caught the dangling plugs of Espresso’s ‘phones, plugged them into the spare ports on the panel, and pointed a hoof at Ledger. “Geez, E, you’re killing the guy.”
The sound of his voice in her ears surprised Espresso, and she blinked in surprise, then tossed Ledger’s ‘phones back at him. They bounced off his head and landed near his hooves, and the stricken earth pony glared at her before scrabbling for them.
But Espresso didn’t notice as she breathlessly explained what she’d seen to the pilot. “Down there! Timberwolves! They’ve got a Pony! I saw somepony using magic!”
Spin Drift squinted and looked out the window, unsure of what he should be seeing. Sure enough, he thought there were some dots down there. He turned looked at her in confusion. “What... I mean, you’re not serious, are you?”
”Yes, I’m serious, you clod! Do you think I’d make a joke about somepony being hunted?”
Spin bit off the retort that came to mind, instead stammering, “Well, okay, but, what?”
This time, Espresso did hit him, clouting him on the back of the head with a hoof. “I don’t know! You’re the pilot, do something!”
Spin Drift reached up and flicked the cockpit lights off, causing Ledger to squawk in protest. Ignoring him, Spin stared out the side window and waited for his eyes to adjust. When they did, he swore at the scene he saw.
Espresso clouted him on the head again.