//------------------------------//
// A Long Flight 
// Story: School Days 
// by Dai Kirai 
//------------------------------//

        Stormy trotted back to C-12, newly acquired items in his saddlebags. Looking for a place to sit, he didn’t feel like trying to read and eat while sitting in a chair designed for humans. There clearly weren’t any for ponies, not like ponies used them that often in Equestria though. So the pegasus went over to an open area of carpet near a window. He set his saddle bags gently on the ground and pulled out his newspaper and the food tray that housed a ‘cucumber roll’ and sat to wait for his plane. 
The clamshell design was remarkably easy for the pegasus to open with his hooves, splitting right open with the slices of rice staying put. Inside was twelve slices of cucumber roll, a small mound of something green along with a tiny red bag with even stranger words on it. His muzzle lowered to the container, sniffing along the way out of lingering doubt. Except for a slight tinge of plastic, it smelled delightful.
Stormy moved his muzzle closer to the ground and picked one up with his tongue, enjoying the firm strips of cucumber that were as fresh as the local deli in Canterlot. The seaweed was a unique flavor, but with the rice it was something almost divine. The pegasus then decided to see what the other two ingredients were. 
The small red package was lifted up to the pegasus’s mouth, the little triangles on the end a clear indicator of where to tear the packaging. Stormy gripped it on either side with his hooves and tore it open with his teeth, the pressure he applied squirting some into his mouth.
Stormy immediately dropped the package in shock. It was almost pure salt. Ponies can handle salt; it made things taste better, but in excess could be incredibly intoxicating. But his mouth only burned from the intense concentration of sodium. His head quickly dove into the saddlebag and he gulped water from his bottle, something he had the foresight to fill on the way to his current spot.
After alleviating the burn from the salt, Stormy eyed the small pile of green stuff and decided it wasn’t worth it. If it was anything like the packet, it would burn and he knew he wouldn’t be able to enjoy the delectable lunch. So he lowered his muzzle back into the tray to eat as he eyes the paper.
The newspaper was split into various sections including: news, food, entertainment, world and so on with the front page being devoted to the most important or eye catching news. The headline article in large letters read: “Pony Immigration Policy!” Followed in smaller words by: “Texas Senator Tow to argue for the bill later this week.” The article then proceeded to go into how the policy was designed to treat Equestria as a first world nation and relax visa requirement on visitors staying less than 90 days. A small quote from the Senator said: “It is only by acknowledging them as a leading country in caring for their people that we can become equals.” The bill was expected to be defeated in the house.
Stormy skimmed the article; human names were still hard to separate or remember and used a hoof to find the local section so he could better understand the area that would be his new home in a few months. But, he quickly closed it after seeing the lead article. “Two men found dead in Compton.” Followed by a picture of two men lying on the ground.
Maybe I’ve read enough in preparation. He pondered, trying to keep his hopes up. At the moment the best thing seemed to be running home as quick as his wings could carry him. There was just too much here. No one would feel disappointed. His family didn’t understand how their son could be so strange, how he couldn’t be like his siblings and just enjoy working with weather like he was destined to. His ‘friends’ were more like acquaintances, just there to grab a daisy sandwich and talk about the weather. The only one that would care would be Ai; did a unicorn he barely knew and had assaulted Stormy on their first encounter really matter into his decisions?
Yes. For some reason, even without knowing what she looked like under the armor; Stormy did not, under any circumstances want to appear as a coward to that pony. He would have to stay resolute in his determination. 
Stormy bent down to get another cucumber roll, only to realize they were all gone. He didn’t remember eating even half of them and contemplated having another. But he had to save his money; things were more expensive than he had expected so far. 
But he was still hungry and opened up the container of inari. They were sweet, yet the rice mellowed out whatever kind of sugar was used. There were only five and he made sure to enjoy every one of them. The tofu skin was especially interesting, it was a type of plant completely unfamiliar to the Equestrian, he would have to find more of it later. The pegasus quickly licked his lips and disposed of his containers in the nearest trash receptacle. 
The sound of a girl’s giggling drew his attention to a child tugging on her mother’s arm. The girl had curly blond hair, a pink dress, and bright pink backpack that bore an image of Celestia. The image showed Princess Celestia acting in a manner the regal ruler would never be caught in. Granted, Celestia had been known to pull pranks to liven things up from time to time, she always realized she was a role model to all ponies and now the public face of them as well. This image had none of those features and was created merely to pander to the tiny wishes of children.
“Mommy. I want to pet the pony though.” The girl whined.
The arm was contained in a black business suit like so many other humans wore in Washington DC. But the mom refused to be moved from her seat, and only grudgingly looked up from a computer screen she stared at, small rimless glasses balanced on her nose and brown hair pulled back into a bun.
Stormy cringed. He had been warned that human children might find him cute and want to climb on him, but the source’s reliability and tendency to provoke reactions made him doubt the sincerity. The girl’s actions though proved just how ‘cute’ he was.
The mother gave a look of amusement. Her features brightened as her daughter dragged her from work. “Sweetie.” She said. “He’s reading. You know people don’t like being bothered while reading.”
The daughter stuck out her lower lip as her eyes started to water. “But he’s so cute and fluffy. Please mommy.” The child pouted.
“I said no.” The older woman said sternly. “I don’t care. You need to learn proper manners.” As she stared at her progeny.
The child pouted and plopped into the seat next to her mom.
Stormy gave a silent thanks to his savior. The last thing he wanted was to be attacked by something that looked to him as a stuffed animal.
The mother returned a slight nod and went back to her computer.
Stormy looked back at the paper, but he just couldn’t get interested in it. The sports made no sense, hoofball and football were nowhere near the same. The food section wanted to talk about who had the best piece of charred cow flesh. And both the local and world sections talked about some war happening in a place called Korea or assaults in the area of Los Angeles. 
With two hours left before his plane left; Stormy pulled out his book and set it on the floor. 
Time to start reading, he thought. With nothing else to do but twiddle his pinions.

“Now boarding all first class passengers, equestrians and those with special needs for flight 273 to Los Angeles.” A voice rang throughout the waiting area. 
It was a blessed reprieve for Stormy. His book seemed decent at first, a story about a downtrodden people having to hunt to survive; it mirrored some stories of ponies and griffons working together so they could both survive; grim but necessary. This was another kettle of daisies. This was about a group of people being oppressed because of a lost war and for revenge, the descendants of the defeated were forced to kill themselves. It was horrid. How could anybody stand to read this? Surely it must get better. He hoped as the book was stuffed back into the saddlebag as the pony made his way to the aircraft. 
The line was short and Stormy found himself having to pull out his boarding pass when he got to the front. A woman stood there in a blue blazer with her auburn hair pulled back into a bun. She waited patiently while he dug around his bag, then happily took the proffered document. 
“If you can stand to the side for a moment Mr. Skies.” A hand indicating a spot by the door but outside the line as she held onto his pass. She then pulled a walkie talky off her belt, speaking to an unseen person. “We need a concierge to assist a 993 at gate C12.” She then 
Is something wrong with my ticket? Stormy fretted, hooves lifting slightly. He took the time to look outside the large windows and finally took notice off the large craft that sat connected to this building, and the half dozen similar craft scattered around the area. The pegasus had looked over basic information on planes, the large tubes of metal with wings and powerful engines that kept it aloft. The sheer size was astounding; the planes were bigger than houses. There weren’t many recommendations on dealing with human air travel from pegasi, but earth ponies and unicorns found it a little disturbing and preferred travel by pegasus. 
The line emptied, the entire string of humans that had been called entered the plane. Stormy was left waiting for the ‘concierge’ as his fidgeting increased, just waiting for something to go wrong and his family to be right; this would never work out.
As Stormy morosely stared out the window, shoulders slouching; a shadow formed in the reflection of his window. He turned around and had to look up, another human, this one male was standing there in a blue blazer and smiling with a closed mouth. 
“This way Mr. Stormy Skies.” The platinum maned human led the way into the corridor that connected C12 to flight 273. “We need to get you seated so the rest of the passengers can finish boarding.” Almost as an afterthought the human spoke; “My name’s Victor by the way.”
Stormy Skies stopped. How was he holding them up? Did he do something wrong?
As if reading the pony’s mind, the human started speaking again. “Ponies require a different kind of seat and special assistance with aircraft seating. My whole job is to make sure you have everything you need.”
“Thank you.” Stormy replied. This was odd. Why should he get so much help at almost every step of his journey? But with the spam incident and his new book fresh in mind, it may just be so.
The tube was a dirty white, as if used many time a day and never fully cleaned, as was the old blue carpet. It was only 100 feet in length and led to a rectangular ovoid door. 
Inside were two walls that led to a narrow walkway. Victor led the pony down the hall and it opened up into rows of seats. On either side were plush, two on each side of the aisle and went back 5 rows where another choke point with a small curtain blocked off the view to the back of the plane. These seats were half filled but Stormy hoped these weren’t his. He could easily fit in these, and comfortably at that, but they were made of leather. There was no way he could sit on the dried skin of a dead animal.
“This is first class seating; it requires a lot of money and isn’t really worth it for a pony. The seats are too big for you to fit securely and the full meal is the same one you can get in coach.”
“Food?” Stormy had food in his pack. “It’s only a few hours though.” 
“Five. That isn’t too long I suppose. It is long enough to need a meal though.” Victor sounded thoughtful as he pulled back the curtain.
The next area, which went to the back of the plane, had about 40 rows of seats with three on each side, with a sad blue fabric and much smaller seats. It seemed funny that every human could fit in one. But Victor stopped just beyond the curtain.
The seats were separated by unmoving blocks that looked like they fit a human arm on top of them. The two seats closest to the windows had a simple flat seat with a strap near one of the rests. But the aisle seat looked different. The seat was at an angle, with the front higher than the back of it, as if creating a pocket in which to hold something. There was also a strap on either side at the top of the seat. 
“This is yours” Victor offered. “If you can set your bag on the ground and jump up here, we can begin strapping you in and run through your unique safety session.”
“Does this mean there are no other Equestrians on this flight?” Stormy asked, hoping he might have someone to talk to, something non-alien to look at. “Shouldn’t this have been done sooner to not hold everyone up? I feel bad delaying them.” He asked, jumping onto his seat as his rump settled into the back and his forehooves remained comfortably by the front of his seat as the back supported him. 
“Nope, you just missed a group of three that was on the last flight. Equestrians are pretty rare, at least on this airline.” Victor answered. “As for being late…that was an oversight on our part. So let us worry about that.”
Victor reached up to the top straps. “This is a safety harness.” He said and pulled out two more from the bottom of his seat. “It’s designed to hold you in place in case the ride gets bumpy due to unruly air currents.  To remove it, just hit this button in the middle and any flight attendant would be happy to help put it back on.”
Stormy watched as the four straps stuck together with a small button in the middle.
Vincent continued his lecture. “In case of a loss of cabin pressure, a specially designed mask will drop out of the ceiling. Designed to fit over the muzzle, it will supply you with oxygen. The seat can be used as a floatation device and the exits are there, there and there.” He said pointing. 
Vincent then shoved Stormy’s saddlebags under seat and got up to leave the aircraft.
Stormy stopped him with a quick tap on the shoulders. “Can you hand me my book please?” He was secure, but that also meant he couldn’t reach his bag or anything in it. That book would be his only source of entertainment for the trip.
“Certainly.” Victor offered and pulled the bag back out. The book was right on top and handed over to the pegasus as the bag was shoved back under the seat. “Is there anything else you need?”
“No. And thank you.” Stormy replied.
Victor hurried back out the plane and within moments, more humans had begun boarding. 
Each of them looked different, but the stream began to blend together into a mass of anonymity. Stormy decided not to start reading in case someone needed to get past him into the two unoccupied seats. 
When the plane was half full, a tall woman in a red shirt with golden letters that spelled out ‘USC’ stood in the aisle near him, putting a bag into the compartment above his head. Her hair was curly, and so blonde as to be artificially colored.
She sidled passed him and sat by the window seat. “Hello there, deary.” She said, smiling sweetly. “Don’t think I’ve ever met an Equestrian before. My name’s Lori. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Stormy was slightly surprised, humans could be so polite. “My name is Stormy Skies. Nice to meet you too.” He stopped there, unaware of what he should say next.
But Lori seemed quite versed and picked up the conversation immediately. “Is this your first time flying? I seem to do this at least once a month.”
Stormy extended his left wing so as to not interfere with anyone still trying to find their seats. “Just my first time on an airplane.” His voice cracked a little as he began to fidget again.
“Safest mode of transportation, so don’t be worried.” She assured him. “What did you do there? Are you a student?”
“I guess I’m a student now.” 
“Do you go to school in LA? I am going there to visit my son, he won a full ride scholarship.” She asked.
“Just got accepted into UCLA in fact. I’m a little nervous.” Stormy admitted.
“I am so very sorry to hear that.” Lori stated half-sorry. 
“Why?” It’s supposed to be such a good school.
“Well, they did a report 2 years ago and UCLA was ranked the most dangerous campus in the country.”  She informed him condescendingly. 
This didn’t help Stormy’s tension. Maybe I can convince Ai to visit a little sooner than expected. Even an ex-guard would be helpful.
“I worked at the weather factory for the last three years.” Stormy hoped to change topics to something less terrifying. 
Lori’s eyes widened. “How old are you?”
“Seventeen.” Stormy replied, not understanding what the shock was for. He’d gotten a great education that taught him everything he needed to know: Astronomy, math, meteorology, Equestrian, History.
“You left school at fourteen?! Your parents should be ashamed! Forcing a child to work at that age.” The stunned woman expounded. “At least you are finishing your education now.”
This irked Stormy. Who was she to talk about his culture? That was the standard amount of time; he could even go into management if he could prove himself. He seethed for a moment, debating if it was worth arguing. The pegasus decided against it, he didn’t want to fight so he just stayed quiet.
It only worked for a few moments though as the loud speaker started up and the plane lurched backwards. “Welcome aboard flight 273 to LA this afternoon. We will be taking off in a few minutes after our flight crew goes over the safety procedures. We will be ascending to 40000 feet and should arrive at 5:12pm local time.”
The aircraft, Stormy wished he knew more about it, but the names were just numbers to him, unable to know the difference between an airbus and a 747. But, as it moved along the ground, striped asphalt passed by the window. 
Once the plane stopped, various humans in blue blazers stood at various spots down the aisle with a bag and began to pull various things out as the speaker started again. Stormy half listened, realizing it was almost an exact copy of the one he received. 
Stormy’s attention was brought back to the plane as it lurched again, and then began to speed up, and up, and up; faster than he had ever travelled before. The white and yellow lines were flashing past the window. Lori seemed to be ignoring everything, with her nose in a magazine. The nose lifted and the ground fell away, as did Stormy’s stomach. His body told him he was falling and his wings reflexively shot out. Lori’s magazine was now literally in her face, and the man sitting across the aisle, someone Stormy hadn’t paid any attention to; now had a face full of primary feathers.
Stormy felt the obstructions his wings had hit and knew they were people, but his wings refused to fold back up. The plane lurched down for a second and both people got smacked in the face again as the mustard yellow pony pumped his wings in an attempt to stop his descent. He could feel the adrenaline as panic set in, his blood chilled. I’m falling. His instincts screamed, despite what his eyes saw. 
Stormy beat his wings again, terrified at what the results might be. He could hear one of the flight attendants calling something in to the pilots. Must stop, must stop, must stop, must stop. But nothing helped. The pegasus looked to his left at Lori, who had her hands out to keep from being hit in the face again; casting an evil look at the first time flier. Stormy looked to his left; at the other person, who was slapping his hand on his leg and laughing; despite the wing in his face. 
Why is he laughing?! This is serious, we’re falling. We can’t hit the ground in this hunk of metal. But, the human kept laughing.
“Dude.” The guy looked over at Stormy, huge grin on his face. “You know, if you wanted to say hi; you could have just shaken my hand and given me your name.”
Stormy looked around, several other passengers looked confused or were smirking, the flight attendant in the aisle behind him looked scared, like a riot might break out. She stepped forward and the man held a hand up.
“Name’s Harold by the way.” The man said, using his hand to shake the end of Stormy’s wing, which retracted slightly at the unexpected touch. 
“S-s-s-stormy S-s-skies.” The pegasus replied.
“This must be your first time flying.” The man chuckled. “I remember my first time, but that was thirty years ago.” The man leaned back as he reminisced. His black hair was turning grey at the sides, his skin the darkest Stormy had ever seen. “I was a kid back then, travelling from New York to Georgia as my family had been relocated due to work. The plane took off and I cried like a baby. My brothers never let me live that one down.”
Stormy relaxed a little, the muscles in his wings relaxed. He leaned forward, to better hear.
“I overheard that you’re a student at UCLA.” The man continued his conversation, distracting the panicked pony. The plane leveled off and Stormy didn’t realize that his wings had retracted several minutes before. “My older brother went there, made for interesting Thanksgivings with the school rivalry. But he loved that place. Always came back with great stories. This one time,” Harold stopped and pressed his lips together in thought. “Never mind. That’s not an appropriate story.”
But Stormy was too intrigued by now. “What happened?”
“Well, let’s just say that if anyone tries to sell you tickets to the pool for seniors on the roof of a building; don’t believe. And if you do, make sure to take a towel.” And then Harold crashed into the back of his chair laughing, getting a mildly annoyed look from the guy sitting behind him. 
“I don’t get it.” Stormy confessed.
Harold wiped a tear from his eye. “Give it some time.” He then went back to laughing at Stormy and looked at the small wall in front of him and closed his eyes.
Stormy ruffled his wings in frustration. This truly was a weird…
He ruffled his feathers again. Stormy looked down to make sure. His wings were folded back at his sides. When did that happen?
The pegasus looked to Lori at his right, but she was ignoring him solidly with her magazine. 
Without any idea what else to do for five hours, and still not sure how they could spend five hours in the air and yet arrive in three hours; Stormy pulled the book out from next to himself and started reading.