//------------------------------// // At The Airport // Story: A Holiday in Haywaii // by Key Lime Pie //------------------------------// If you were inside Canterlot Airport, then you would be able to hear the whining of a certain cyan coated mare as she and her friends waited for their plane, which had been delayed due to a strange yellow maned Pegasus flying into the flight zone and grinding all flights to a halt (when questioned what she was doing there, this grey pony said she dropped her muffin and was looking for it. Officials have yet to retrieve said muffin). ‘Ugh, this is taking forever! Why can’t we get on the plane now? I can see it! I could dash there in 10 seconds flat!’ Rainbow shouted, groaning. ‘Rainbow, we’ve only waited for an hour. I’m sure there’s just a little technical difficulty, is all.’ Twilight told her impatient friend, who slumped back down into her seat in the waiting room. Applejack shifted her eyes nervously side to side. She removed her hat to wipe her brow which was heavy with sweat. She opened her mouth to talk, but her throat was dry, so she had to cough before attempting to talk again. ‘Sure is hot in here, isn’t it guys? Hahaha...’ She said, unconvincingly. Fluttershy saw something was wrong with her friend and decided to see if there was anything she could do to help. ‘Um, Applejack, you don’t look so good. What’s wrong?’ ‘I’m fine, Fluttershy, but thanks for asking.’ ‘Oh, no, Applejack, you’re not fine. I can tell. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone else if you don’t want me to.’ ‘Well, it’s a tad embarrassing. I don’t really want to say it out loud.’ The orange work pony glanced around to make sure Pinkie wasn’t in earshot. Luckily, she was talking to what looked like an extremely confused pilot. ‘I have a fear of flying.’ ‘Oh Applejack. We all have fears, like, I’m scared of the sound the oven makes when it’s done cooking. That loud ringing sound...it’s startling. But there’s no need to be worried about flying. Think, even I’m not scared of flying. And that’s coming from me.’ The kind pony put her hoof on her friends and Applejack smiled in return. ‘Thanks Fluttershy. I couldn’t have gone on tha’ plane without your help. Some of this fancy shmancy unicorn magic and engineering business gives me the heebie jeebies.’ Applejack said, shuddering. ‘Oh, flying isn’t scary, Applejack. When I was younger I wasn’t a very strong flier, but discovering what made me happy somehow made me stronger and able to fly. Maybe you should think of what makes you happy and the magic might work better.’ Fluttershy reassured her friend. ‘I’ll sit next to you if you like.’ Rainbow Dash, who had been listening secretly for her own amusement, decided to butt in the conversation at completely the wrong moment in time. ‘And besides, Applejack! What can even go wrong with a plane? It could run into turbulence, crash into the ocean, hit a storm, have an engine malfunction, the unicorns magic might not work...’ See, that’s only 5 things that could go wrong! Barely any! Less than the colours in my mane!’ Applejack got out of her seat into her seat. ‘Changed my mind, folks. Let’s go home.’ She told everypony. ‘We can’t go home now, Applejack! You promised we’d go on holiday and it would be fun! You better thank your lucky stars it wasn’t a pinkie promise, or you’d be in a lot of trouble! That would have been strike 2!’ Pinkie Pie told her fellow Earth pony, extending her two front hoofs to show her the number, before losing balance and toppling over. ‘What’s wrong, Applejack?’ Rarity asked. ‘Fine...you might as well all know...I have a fear of flying’. Applejack told her friends, ashamed. ‘Aviophobia, huh? Let me tell you this, Applejack. You’re more likely to die from an Apple tree falling on top of you than a plane crashin-‘ Twilight stated, stopping halfway and realizing what she had just told her friend who works on an apple farm. ‘Never mind. Got that one wrong. Silly me. It’s... Orange trees. Not Apple trees. Anyway, the unicorns responsible for powering the engine are fully trained. Even if something does go wrong, their power combined can suspend the plane until The Wonderbolts or another rescue squad can come and rescue us.’ Twilight stated, helping her friend overcome her fears. ‘Passengers boarding for Haywaii schedule to leave at Terminal 3 now.’ A Stallion voice from the Intercom rang out into the waiting room. ‘Finally!’ Rainbow Dash shouted, before proceeding to zoom right up to the check in desk at an alarming rate. She didn’t know whether she’d be able to stop in time, but she needed to move! The receptionist pony with a cyan coat and white, poufy hair squealed at Rainbow Dash who stopped mere centimetres away from her face, before scowling. ‘Passport, please.’ The receptionist said in a nasal voice. ‘Oh shoot, Rarity has them. She’s my friend over there. Just let me on, and then she’ll show you my passport when she gets here! Okay?’ ‘I’m afraid we can’t do that, madam. I’m going to ask you, madam, to step outside the queue, madam, as you’re holding up other passengers, madam.’ ‘But I-‘ ‘Madam.’ Sighing, Rainbow trudged back to the rest of her friends...at the back of the queue. More waiting, she thought. Just what she needed. Did the receptionist not know who she was? The one and only, amazing Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in ALL of Equestria! Winner of the Young Fliers competition! ‘Oh, I should probably get the passports ready now, for when we get to the queue.’ Rarity said, fumbling inside one of her many bags looking for them. ‘Oh, I could have sworn I left them inside this bag. Well, onto bag number two!’ The white unicorn said, unzipping another suitcase with her magic. ‘Whose Idea was it to let Rarity keep the passports? She’s going to take FOREVER.’ Rainbow Dash stated, crossing her arms. ‘Well, it was either her, or Pinkie Pie.’ Twilight said, looking over at the Pink pony, who was currently...in the decorative water fountain? Oh dear sweet Luna. ‘Pinkie! Get out of there!’ Twilight told her friend, who obliged, dripping wet. ‘What in tarnation were ya doin’ in there?’ Applejack asked. Pinkie inhaled deeply. Everypony knew what was coming next. ‘Well, I saw some coins at the bottom of the fountain and I figured, well, the fountains not going to use them, I mean, he doesn’t need food, or drink, seeing as he’s kinda made up from drink, isn’t he? Anyway, I just dived in and found some good coinage! At least 10 bits down there, you know! Who would throw money into a fountain?’ The pony gasped for air, about to start talking on, before Applejack put a hoof in her mouth, stopping her talking, and then taking it out again. ‘Woops. Sorry. Guess I went off on one again. All that water made me need the bathroom though.’ Pinkie stated, hopping toward the little fillies room, still soaking wet from her fountain hi-jinks. ‘Bag number seven...’ Rarity said, panic abundant in her voice. ‘Oh, please tell me I didn’t forget the passports!’ ‘Oh, you mean the passports in your hair?’ Fluttershy asked her friend, who immediately shook her head quickly in order to dislodge the passports. ‘What are they doing there?’ Rarity asked to no-one in particular, brandishing them with her magic ready for when they got to the desk. ‘You put them there so you wouldn’t forget where you put them.’ Fluttershy said, giggling at the unicorns mistake. Rarity started blushing a bright pink, but seeing all her other friends laughing made her laugh along with them. Well, everypony made mistakes sometimes. ‘My mistake. Ah, looks like it’s our turn.’ Rarity opened the passports for the receptionist to see, who dully nodded at them in return, save Rainbow Dash, who she gave a deeply patronizing smile. The ponies placed their bags on the luggage carousel before trotting towards the terminal being the last to board the plane. ‘Have a nice trip, ladies.’ The receptionist called after the girls, who boarded the plane single file. There weren’t reserved seats on this particular flight and there weren’t enough seats for them to sit together, so they just went off and sat wherever they liked. ‘I don’t want to sit at a window. No matter what the odds are of somethin’ going wrong, ah still don’t want to see the ground from way up here.’ Applejack stated, so Fluttershy took the window seat while Applejack sat next to her and strapped her seatbelt on as soon as she did, taking her aht off and holding it to her chest. Rarity found herself at the front of the plane. Sitting herself down next to a lone passenger who looked as if they were going to Haywaii on a business trip, she calmly pulled out her eye mask, before pulling her seat back and deciding to get a little shut eye. After all, this was an overnight flight, so she might as well get some rest now. Twilight and Rainbow Dash sat next to each other, Twilight looking around at all the machinery inside the plane. She’d never been on one before and she found it fascinating. Even the plane trip in itself was worthy of a report. The mechanics of the plane, the design, the study of aerodynamics was very interesting indeed! But she didn’t have her quill and ink in her hand luggage, so she settled for a good book - ‘Of Mice and Stallions’ – a classic no doubt in her mind. Rainbow Dash saw her friend reading and remembered she was up to book 5 in Daring Do’s escapades, ‘Daring Do and the return of the Gryphons Grail!’ Rainbow Dash wondered how her friend Gilda was getting on. It had been a year since her visit to Ponyville and she hadn’t heard a word from her since. Rainbow reminded herself to check up on Gilda when she got back from this vacation. But for now, Daring Do! The plane’s engines started rumbling as several unicorns ran the engine with their magic. Applejack, suddenly changing her mind again, made an excuse in her mind. ‘Oh no! Look at this Fluttershy!’ She told her friend, who turned to face her. ‘Oh? What is it?’ ‘Look at this rusty machine part! It looks faulty! We better not stay on this thing.’ Applejack said, unbuckling her seat belt. ‘Applejack, you don’t even know what that part is called, do you?’ ‘Yes I do! It’s...the left phalange! Eeyup, there’s something wrong with the left phalange.’ ‘What was that?’ Asked a nervous sounding stallion voice from behind them. ‘Oh, my friend here is just making up something because she’s scared of flying.’ Fluttershy told the colt behind them. ‘I ain’t lying! The left phalange is broken and this plane shouldn’t be going anywhere!’ ‘The...left phalange? That sounds serious! I’m getting off as well.’ The young stallion said, getting out from his seat and walking down the aisle. ‘Where are you going?’ Asked a yellow pelted flight attendant with a plane flying over a cloud for a cutie mark. ‘The left phalange is broken!’ He stated loudly, causing the whole plane to look up at the two. ‘There is no such thing as a phalange. At least, not in a plane.’ The attendant said, guiding the man back to his seat. ‘Shoot. That didn’t work so well.’ Applejack thought to herself, who had thought for a fleeting moment that she might have gotten away with her plan. ‘Just relax Applejack. You’re so tense. Loosen up and try imaging you’re somewhere else.’ Fluttershy told her nervous friend, who strapped herself in tighter and gulped. The engine hummed louder and the plane started to move down the runway slowly. Several of the younger ponies onboard looked out of the window in excitement as the speed of the plane crept up. It hopped and attempted to take off, the nose pointing upwards ever so slightly as the engine roared. Eventually, the plane was a few feet off the ground in its fast ascent, which became 10 feet...50...100...the numbers continued to rise until the plane levelled out at a fair attitude and the engines calmed down a little. Twilight smiled, swallowing to stop her ears from feeling funny and continuing to read her book. She enjoyed the peace of the plane, the quiet, save several ponies chatting about their vacation and the small mumblings of Rarity sleep-talking at the front of the plane (something about fabulosity). Something struck Twilight. As if she had forgotten something. That odd niggling feeling. Last minute panic. Passports? Rarity still had those. Sun cream? Yep, everypony had a bottle in their hand luggage. Hotel tickets? Yep, in Twilights saddlebags safe and sound. No need for concern. Everything was here. Everything. Not Everypony. ‘PINKIE PIE!’