Soarin and his team began descending towards Ponyville. His plan was to pass over the town, then circle out to the right until they lined up with the runway.
The clouds obscured Jake's vision just enough to make a visual landing unsafe, so the escort was much needed.
"Flaps twenty."
He pulled the flap lever back another notch, and they dropped from the wings even lower.
"Gear down."
The wheels came down from the fuselage and locked into place with a loud clank.
"Speed one hundred and ten knots."
He pulled all four throttles back, and the engine whines lowered their pitch.
The Wonderbolts and the plane passed over Ponyville, attracting many stares at the behemoth of metal. Soarin looked back to Spitfire and Fleetfoot, who both nodded, signaling the start of the turn. Slowly but surely, they led Jake into a long right bank. They turned for three quarters of a full circle. And when the plane's wings finally leveled off straight, Jake was ecstatic. Directly ahead of him about a mile away was the semi lit runway.
"Thank the Lord they came when they did! Ok everypony, strap down and get ready to land."
He made his last preparations as the plane made its final approach.
Soarin fell back to his window one last time and saluted. Jake returned the gesture, and the three of them sped up and flew straight down the runway allowing the C-130 room to land. To him, they sounded like F/A-18 Hornets that the Blue Angels used for shows.
Twilight held on to the edges of her seat. The pilot looked back to see that everyone else also had a scared look on their faces, and he sighed.
"I must be having déjà vu."
The automated voice came on to announce the altitude.
"Fifty."
"Forty."
"Thirty."
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Rainbow Dash and the volunteers had just finished putting down as many lanterns as they could. Each one was spaced about ten feet apart, and shone bright enough to stand out from at least a couple miles away.
She looked up to the sky just in time to see the three Wonderbolts streak down the length of the runway and split off at the end. Soarin pulled straight up, Spitfire cut to the right, and Fleetfoot to the left.
The rainbow pegasus looked back to the other end and saw the red and green beacons of the C-130 only about twenty seconds from touchdown. She yelled to everyone still out checking the lanterns.
"Get your flanks out of there right now! Here he comes!"
They all bolted off the runway and joined at Dash's side to watch if their worked payed off. Sure enough, it did. The plane touched down on the soft dirt very lightly, and immediately began to slow down.
-------------------------------------
"Twenty."
"Ten."
Jake let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and pulled all four throttles back, cutting power.
"Ok this is going to be quick and easy."
The back wheels were a mere two feet off the ground.
"Aaaaaaaaaand."
Thud!
"We're down."
He effortlessly touched the nose gear down and began slowing.
"See? Nothing to it."
Twilight looked impressed.
"Well that was certainly an experience Jake. Thank you for getting us back here safely."
He chuckled.
"Thank Rainbow Dash and the...who was it?"
Fluttershy quietly cut in.
"Wonderbolts."
"Yeah them. If they hadn't acted when they did, we'd still be up there flying around like a chicken with its head cut off."
The timid pegasus looked frightened.
"Oh my! That poor little chicken! Who would do such a thing?"
Applejack laughed.
"It's a figure o' speech Fluttershy. There ain't no chicken with its head cut off. Nopony is that mean ta do somethin' like that to an animal."
Jake heard this and got nervous. Explaining to them that the human race treated chicken as one of the most common meals, and that cutting their heads off was normal was probably not a good idea.
The C-130 slowed enough that Jake was able to turn around and taxi back over to Rainbow Dash. The other townsfolk had dispersed, and gone about their nightly business. The Wonderbolts had also landed, and were waiting to get a close up view of the plane.
It finally stopped, and Jake leaned back in his chair.
"Thank you for flying with American Flightline. We understand you have a choice of airline, and we are grateful that you chose us."
They all have him a puzzled look.
"It's what we say to clients when we land."
Rarity giggled.
"That's quite interesting dear. Now lets get out of here and back to town. I need my beauty sleep."
"As you wish."
He reached behind the throttles to the main fuel cutoff valve.
"Lights out."
With that the four props sputtered to a halt, and everything got quiet. The only sound the plane was making was the a tinkling noise from the engines cooling down. The main access door opened, and all seven of them stepped out. Jake was the last, and shut the door behind him.
He walked over to Rainbow Dash.
"Well Dash, I can't thank you enough for your help."
He turned to the three Wonderbolts.
"And you guys! I would've been lost without you. My name is Captain Jake Weston, pleased to meet you."
He shook their hooves. Soarin looked behind Jake to the dormant plane.
"So this is it huh? I obviously saw it up there in the sky, but I didn't get time to inspect it in close detail."
He looked over its wings and engines and after a minute or so, he nodded to himself.
"This is quite the machine Captain. I'm very impressed."
"Please, just call me Jake. You know, you guys remind me of the Blue Angels."
Fleetfoot spoke up.
"Who are they?"
"They're a group of stunt fliers just like you guys. Except they use a plane called an F/A-18 Hornet that can travel almost at twice the speed of sound. It's pretty impressive."
"We'll you'll have to come out and see one of OUR shows sometime. We just might give them Blue Angels a run for their bits, eh?"
This caused Jake to chuckle.
"We'll see. I would like to come out to a show sometime."
Rainbow Dash butted in.
"I could get us tickets and we can go Jake! They have their next show in Canterlot in about three weeks."
Spitfire nodded.
"Yup. One of our biggest ones yet. But we're still figuring out what to do for the finale. We need something that will really give the audience something to talk about."
Jake looked back to the C-130.
"You know...I COULD pull a couple tricks in this thing if you guys wanted me to."
Soarin's face lit up with joy.
"That would be amazing! Ok you're in for our next show."
Jake looked stunned.
"Well wait a minute! It was just a thought. I mean, I've only heard about them really, I've never had the opportunity to try them."
"Have you ever flown upside down?"
He sighed.
"Once. In a crash landing. I was flying a Boeing 747 cargo plane, and my elevators locked up, sending me into a dive. The plane rolled over belly up and I was upside down for a good ten minutes before I managed to right myself. I came down on a highway and almost killed fifty people that were in the way. Lucky they all managed to swerve out of my path."
He paused for a moment, trying to press the thought from his head.
Spitfire hung her head.
"I'm sorry Jake. We didn't mean to bring back those memories."
He held up a hoof.
"It's fine. I've gotten over it. It wasn't my fault, and there was nothing I could do about it. I'm lucky we all survived and that I didn't get fired or something. But every once in a while, I think back to those people who were driving on that highway unaware of what was about to come, and just imagine what would've happened if they hadn't moved. Anyways, it's pretty late, and I have a long day tomorrow. It was great meeting you guys."
Soarin yawned.
"Yeah you too. We have a long day tomorrow as well. We're going down to Appleoosa to witness the potential breaking of the land speed record. Apparently somepony said that they have a machine that could beat Speed Demon's rocket carriage."
The captain was lost for words.
"That pony would be me."
The Wonderbolt's eyes widened.
"That's you?!"
"Yup. I'm flying down there tomorrow morning around nine o'clock. You wanna fly with us?"
Soarin looked back to the other two who nodded in approval.
"You bet your flank we do! We'll see you here then bright and early."
"Very well then. See you around."
With that they flew up in to the sky and were out of sight. Jake turned around to the other six.
"Well lets head back into town and get to sleep."
Mac walked past him and started towards the town.
"Ah couldn't agree more."
They all said their goodbyes and parted ways towards their respective homes. Jake and the two farm siblings were walking up the dirt path to the gate, when Applejack started thinking.
"Ya know, I wish I could see all the things yer race has come up with Jake. Ah mean, if y'all can build a flyin' machine out o' metal, what other contraptions have ya come up with?"
He chuckled.
"Well, we have a space shuttle, which is a different type of plane that is capable of going into outer space. We've even landed on the moon before. Of course, in our world, the sun and moon move on their own. Oh, and we also have ships."
Mac cut in.
"Eeyup, we got them too. Sail boats an' what not."
"We have sailboats, as well as motor boats which don't need any wind to move. A propeller pushes it powered by a gasoline engine."
Applejack shook her head.
"It amazes me Jake. It really does."
The trio stepped onto the front porch and through the door. The orange earth pony sighed and made her way to the stairs.
"Ok, ahm goin' ta bed. Night you two."
"Night."
"G'night sis."
She ascended the staircase and was out of sight. Jake looked over to Mac.
"Well I think I'll do the same."
"Eeyup."
He stopped just as he was about to walk up the stairs, and looked back to him.
"Oh, and don't worry about the ammo boxes or the steeple. Those things are going to get done as soon as we get back."
Mac smiled.
"Ain't no rush Jake. Fer now, jes focus on beatin' that Speed Demon fella."
The pilot turned and started up the stairs.
"With pleasure Mac."