//------------------------------//
// Every Little Bit Helps 
// Story: Detour 
// by Jetset0099 
//------------------------------//

       "Alright! On the count of three, give it all you got!"
Captain Crescenthilt directed the thirty Royal Guard ponies who had been tasked with getting the plane out. He was a white unicorn with gold plated armor, and wielded a diamond sword, signifying his rank.       
Silverstream had only put the call in around forty minutes ago, and already there were twenty guards pulling from the back, and ten unicorn  guards in the front attempting to levitate the nose gear out of the mud. The captain yelled at them again. 
"Ok stop stop!"
The grunting ceased and the nose slowly sunk back into the mud about a half a foot. He walked up to the front and addressed them. 
"What's wrong up here? Why can't we lift this thing?"
Jake trotted up next to him and intervened. 
"It's because the mud is acting like a suction cup. The harder you pull, the more it holds the nose down. You need to dig some relief holes to let pressure out, then try again."
Crescenthilt turned back to his unit. 
"Alright you heard him! Lets get those holes dug ASAP!"
They all shouted in unison. 
"Sir, yes sir!"
Jake walked back up into the cargo hold and started climbing up a collapsible ladder that led to a pressurized hatch on the ceiling. When he opened it, he found himself standing on the roof of the plane.
Twilight was already up there out on the right wing finishing up the fuel spells. 
"How's it coming?"
She jumped and turned around. 
"Jeez Jake! You scared me."

"Sorry."

"No problem. Anyways, I'm finished. The spell has been cast, and all you need to do now is start up the engines and see if it works."
Jake paused for a moment to think. 
"So the engines are functional now?"

"If the only thing wrong with them was a lack of fuel, then yes."
A large smile donned his face. 
"I got it! Ok hop down off of here and stand back. It's going to get windy."
He ran up to the nose of the aircraft and looked down at the guards. 
"Everypony listen up!"
All of their heads turned up to face him. 
"Ok I have a new plan. Now that the engines are functional, I can change the propeller angle and reverse the direction of thrust. Hopefully all of you pulling from behind and the four engines will be enough to yank the nose out from the mud."
Crescenthilt addressed his unit once more. 
"Ok, everypony to the back of the plane and grab a part of the rope to help pull! Double time let's move!"
As the guards complied, Jake clambered back down the ladder and ran up to the cockpit. On the back wall just to the right of the door was a large yellow crank handle. He began to rotate it counter-clockwise to reverse the thrust. 
Outside, each propeller blade started to rotate and reverse its angle. Now, instead of pulling the air in from the front, they pulled it in from the behind. 
The ten guards explained to the other twenty already pulling about Jake's plan, and they quickly got in position. A large crowd of at least fifty townsfolk had gathered to watch the events over the course of the morning. Once they caught on to what was happening, one by one, every stallion in the crowd began to walk forward towards Crescenthilt. He noticed them and held up a hoof to stop them. 
"Hold on there guys. This is official Royal Guard business. I don't want anypony getting hurt."
A large red earth pony pushed his way through the crowd and approached the captain. 
"Now listen here Mister. This here airplane is in our town, an' Jake is one o' mah friends. It may not be that way in Canterlot, but in Ponyville, we look out fer our friends. So let me an' these volunteerin' stallions help y'all pull this thing out o' the mud."
Crescenthilt sighed. 
"Very well. I honor your dedication to helping a pony in need. Come on then! Find a spot and start pulling on my signal!"
Ten stallions including Mac ran up to the three ropes hooked to the rear of the plane and took their places. The farmer was standing between two other guards, and he dwarfed them with his size. 
Up in the cockpit, Jake was frantically flipping switches and going through his pre-flight checks when Twilight came up behind him. 
"I'm going to be up in front trying to lift the nose with magic. Every little bit helps."

"Your right. Go ahead and try that."

"Ok. Oh, and I also had a couple guards stick a large plank of wood down into the hole behind the nose gear. It should give it a solid surface to back out of instead of dragging it through the mud."
Jake smiled. 
"Wow Twilight, you're well prepared for this."
She smirked and turned to leave. 
"I'm not the Princesse's personal student for nothing Jake. I'll see you out there."
With that she left the cockpit and started towards her spot in the front of the plane. 
Crescenthilt passed her and went up to the window Jake was sitting by. He opened it and leaned out to speak to him. 
"Ok here's how I plan to do this. When you hear the engines rev up, start pulling. You'll definitely know when because the whine will get much higher pitched. Tell Twilight that as well."
The Guard Captain saluted. 
"You bet."
He walked away after relaying the message to the lavender unicorn, then walked back to join the forty stallions pulling the ropes.
Jake reached his hoof up to the four ignition switches and let out a long breath. 
"Ok here it goes. The moment of truth. Don't let me down now."
He had set all four throttles to the run position, allowing the engines to start up once the ignition buttons were pressed. Jake pressed down and held the buttons, and the propellers began to slowly rotate, producing a low whine. 
After a couple of lingering seconds that kept everyone in the vicinity silent with anticipation, all four props sputtered to life. The C-130 was back. 
Jake cheered and fist punched the air a couple times in excitement. Everyone else was doing the same thing upon hearing all of the engines roar. He regained his composure and grasped the throttles, pushing them slowly forward. 
Outside, Captain Crescenthilt heard the engine pitch get higher, and yelled to his unit. 
"Ok everypony, that's the signal! Put your back into it!"
Around one hundred and sixty hooves dug down into the dirt with a thud and began pulling. The inverted propellers were pushing out almost five thousand horsepower, causing the nose gear to start rising from the mud. 
Jake backed off the throttles and let the engines idle. The plane stopped rising from the hole, but it didn't sink back down anymore. Crescenthilt ran up to him, his blue mane thrashing around in the wind the props were making. 
"Why did you stop?!"
The pilot yelled back over the noise of the engines. 
"If I give the engines too much power for too long while the plane isn't moving, I can cause structural damage to it! Lets try again!"
The captain ran back and readied himself. 
Macintosh was panting along with the other guards from the last try, when suddenly, he heard the engines rev up again. He grunted as he pulled forward once more. As his head was down from the effort, he could see the ground slowly moving below him. It was working. 
Twilight still had her spell cast, and the underbelly of the nose was covered in her purple magic aurora. The top of the wheel was visible now as it slowly rolled back and up the plank of wood that was bending and creaking from the weight. 
Jake backed off again, and the props slowed down. He waited a couple seconds before trying again. 
"Your almost there. One last try and it'll work, I know it."
The engines revved back up again for the last time. Twilight was beginning to get a headache from the intensity of the spell, and Mac along with the others were using the last of their energy to give it one final pull. 
The wheel was half way out, making a suction noise as it slowly rose. Finally, with all of the pony's combined effort, the wheel popped out of the muddy prison. The C-130 rolled back off the plank and onto dry grass. 
The forty stallions in the back dropped the ropes and cheered. Twilight dropped her spell and ran up to Jake, who was bolting out of the access door after shutting down the engines.
"Ha ha we did it!"    
He hugged the unicorn, then released her as quickly as he grabbed her, and made his way to the back. 
Crescenthilt along with Mac and Silverstream approached him.
"Well Jake, mission accomplished I guess."
He shook the pilots hoof. 
"I can't thank you guys enough for your efforts. It only took us two hours to do this. I was preparing for an all day event!"
The four of them laughed. Sliverstream spoke up. 
"Well now that the plane is free, me and the other two won't be needed here anymore. It was interesting Jake. It really was."
They shook hooves. 
"Wait a minute Silverstream. What about Applejack?"
The guard chuckled. 
"While you and everypony else were preparing the plane, I snuck off to go talk to her. I explained my situation, she said she was sorry, and we made up. But then we both decided that any sort of relationship wouldn't work out. I'm in Canterlot all the time except for rare occasions such as this. And I don't think any more planes are gonna come crashing out of the sky...unless you screw up again."
Jake smiled. 
"Well then good luck to you Silverstream, I hope everything works out."

"The same to you Jake."
He turned around to group up with the other guards who were ready to leave. Four pegasi guards each pulled military issued carriages that could hold ten stallions. After they were all boarded, Crecenthilt gave the order to shove off, and they took to the skies. After a couple minutes, the carriages were out of sight, heading towards Canterlot. 
The C-130, Jake, Mac, Twilight, and the dispersing crowd of townsfolk were all that was left in the field. Out of that crowd, the rest of Twilgiht's friends ran up to them. Rainbow Dash flew up over the group. 
"That was awesome! Now you can get that thing back up in the air and fly with me. I could show you how to do a trick or two as well."
Jake chuckled. 
"I highly doubt that Dash. The C-130 isn't made for doing high performance stunts. It's no F-18."
All six had a confused look on their faces. 
"...never mind, how about you stick to the aerial acrobatics, and let me fly straight and level the way I like it. Anyways, now that the plane works, I need to be able to take off again. I think that if I position the plane in a corner of the field, and take off diagonally, I should be able to use the maximum amount of space possible. Hopefully that's enough distance to get it into the air. Landing shouldn't be an issue now that I have fuel. I can attempt a go-around if I need one, and I know where that stupid mud pit is so I won't run into it again."
Pinkie Pie bounced up and down in front of Jake. 
"Ooh! What are we waiting for then?! Come on, let's go flying!"
The pilot looked over to the rest of his new friends, who just gave nods of approval. He smiled. 
"Ok then. Let's go flying."