Chapter Six
Cockpit
The rain poured down relentlessly upon the four ponies, soaking them to the bone and streaming down their equine forms. Twilight led the way toward the plane's slightly damaged front portion, and Plaz, Rainbow, and Bronze followed behind, looking at the wreck in wonder. Twilight had been able to examine the vessel prior to take-off and wasn't necessarily enamored with the enormity of it. Water streamed down the fuselage, pooling around the metal shell and forming miniature marshes.
"I'm really gonna hate this," Bronze groaned.
"Stop complaining," Plaz nudged him, "it'll just make it worse for you."
"I'll stop complaining, then" Bronze said.
"Good idea."
They walked up to the opening in the cylindrical structure, peering within. Twilight gasped and turned away, Bronze covered his snout with a hoof, Plaz looked down, and Rainbow appeared nauseous.
"Oh my Celestia," one of them muttered, though any individual of the four were unsure who.
The interior of the metal shell was filled with ponies, though they were no more than lifeless flesh. Forms lying in their seats like limp puppets. Undoubtedly dead. Those they could see were in terrible condition, some mutilated while others had large holes in their bodies from debris. The odor of decomposing tissue was terrible, mixing with the musty jungle rain, burrowing its way through the ponies' nostrils.
"That's unpleasant," Twilight choked. "It's just..."
"... death," Bronze finished for her.
Death was quite uncommon in Equestria, but it was still present. There was the occasional accident from a construction job, or sometimes two carriages colliding in the congested city streets from the driver's lack of focus. Mostly, though, they caused the death of one or two unlucky souls. Not the amount within this section of fuselage. This was a little too much to bear. The group stood for a while, each of them with glazed over expressions, contemplating while the rain pounded the earth and leaves like the footfalls of a stampede.
"I'll go first." Everypony turned to Twilight as she was looking into the wreck, surveying the incline. "The slant's only about fifty or fifty-five degrees. We can easily reach the cockpit if we climb up through the seats, using them as supports," she stated.
"I suppose they could hold our weight," Plaz contemplated.
"They're bolted to the floor, so I see no problems unless they've come loose," Twilight explained. She looked into the ripped cabin and peered through to the front of the plane, nearly twenty-five feet up. The semi-darkness was unhelpful, though, as she could have misjudged the distance. "Let's just go before we decide otherwise," she said, shaking her head. Twilight grabbed onto the edge of a seat and hoisted herself up. "Rainbow and Plaz," she turned back to them, "go down the opposite aisle and see if anypony is still alive."
Rainbow nodded, "You can count on me, Twi."
"Bronze," Twilight faced him, "you're with me." She turned back and reached up to grab another seat, occupied by a deceased stallion in a black business suit. She ignored it, though it took all of her strength not to throw up, and pulled herself up another seat, making sure to keep steady on the one below. Bronze followed, copying Twilight's path of ascent, while Rainbow started up in the opposite aisle, hoisting herself up through the chairs. Plaz followed behind her, in the event that she lost her footing.
Twilight and Bronze ascended through the cabin, checking the seats for anypony that was alive, or at least breathing. They passed rows of ponies, not one of them meeting the criteria. Rainbow and Plaz moved upward at a slower pace, examining the bodies more thoroughly. Twilight looked ahead of her and saw the door to the cockpit. She climbed up a couple more rows and grabbed the door handle with her forehooves, but her rear legs remained planted on the nearest seat. She tugged at the door, but the handle was jammed, refusing to release.
"Does anyone see something heavy?" Twilight asked. "The door's jammed.
"No," Bronze said, shaking his head, "sorry."
"Me neither," Rainbow added. Twilight gave a frustrated sigh in response. "Why not just blast it open?" Rainbow questioned. "You know," she said, pointing to her forehead, "magic."
Twilight shook her head. "It's not safe enough. The door could shatter, and I might hurt anyone that's still alive," she explained, "or the resulting shock wave could knock us back down to the ground below."
"Good point," Rainbow frowned.
"Hang on a second," Plaz said. Twilight turned to the unicorn, who was now poking his head under an empty seat. He emerged with a well-sized fire extinguisher in his hooves. "Catch." Twilight held out her hooves and Plaz tossed it over. "Must've been dislodged during the crash."
Twilight caught it and weighed it in her hooves. "This'll work," she nodded. Twilight lifted the extinguisher above the handle and thrust it down.
*THWANK!* The metal made contact with the handle, jarring it slightly. Twilight lifted the extinguisher and repeatedly slammed it down. *THWANK... THWANK... THWANK!* The handle complied and briefly turned, though not enough to open the door fully. "Almost there," Twilight said to herself. She brought the extinguisher up and smacked the door handle. *THWANK!*
"AH!" Twilight screamed as the door flew open, and two lifeless stallions in flight uniforms tumbled out past her and Bronze, sliding down the aisle before flopping into the muddy ground below.
"Mother of Luna!" Bronze said, breathing heavily.
"Are you okay, Twilight?" Rainbow called.
She replied with a hasty nod. "I'm fine," Twilight said. "The door's open, now, so I'm going to check inside."
"We'll keep checking for anyone," Plaz said.
"Alright." Twilight adjusted her body so that she could climb up, grabbing the doorframe and hoisting herself up and into the cockpit.
"I'm fine, by the way," Bronze called up, shakily. "Bronze is fine!"
Twilight looked into the cockpit's interior, surveying the damage. The left-center glass shield was completely broken, and it's shards littered the floor. Flecks of red were scattered about the cabin and all over the glass both on the cracked window, as well as the bits on the floor. Vines seeped through the opening like little, green snakes, and rain poured through, trickling down to pool at the low edge before streaming through the open door. To the left, the pilot's seat was empty, but the unmoving form of a uniformed stallion occupied the one next to it. His white fur was matted in dried blood, and he was badly bruised all over his face and legs, the former being swollen to a bit of a degree.
Bronze poked his head into the cabin and instantly took notice of what Twilight was observing. "Oh, Celestia," he gulped, covering his mouth with his hoof. He left the cockpit and threw open the door to the bathroom next to the door before ducking inside and slamming it behind him. Gagging could be heard by the three of them as they listened to what sounded like Bronze losing his lunch, and then it became quiet for a moment. The lock clicked, the door opened, and Bronze climbed out, maneuvering his way back to the cockpit.
"Are you alright?" Twilight asked, worriedly.
Bronze nodded slowly and shuddered. "I think I'm okay, now," he said.
"Alright... Now, we need to locate the transceiver," Twilight turned back to looking around the cabin. "It looks a bit like an over-complicated walkie-talkie."
"'Kay," he nodded. They then separated, Twilight taking the right, while Bronze took the left.
. . . . .
Rainbow Dash and Plazmatic slowly moved from seat to seat, maneuvering around and checking each pony that resided within them. So far, they had found no survivors, stallion nor mare.
Rainbow sighed and wedged herself between two rows of seats. "This is ridiculous," she muttered. "There's nopony left, here." She looked off to the side, "It's gruesome."
"I'm sure we'll find someone," Plaz replied, checking a bloody but well-dressed mare for a pulse. "They can't all be dead," he added quietly.
"*cough cough*"
Plaz and Rainbow froze in their places and their ears twitched up excitedly. "Did you hear that?" Rainbow asked.
"Yeah..." Plaz replied, wide eyed. "Coughing..."
"*cough*"
Their eyes darted to the floor between two rows that they had already checked. Could they have missed something? Plaz lowered himself down to where they heard the noises and looked below an empty chair. A small, huddled form was lying under the seat, with thin, red stains streaking from below the forward seat to where it remained.
"What do you see?" Rainbow asked, trying to peer over the seats without falling from her own perch.
Plaz remained silent as he reached down toward the form. He gently wrapped his hooves around it and drew it out. He lifted the pony in his hooves and held her close. "It's a school filly," he finally answered, and it was indeed. A pink earth pony filly with a light purple and white mane. She even had her own cutie mark, as well: a diamond tiara. She was terribly injured, with cuts of varying sizes along her miniscule frame, the blood dried in streaks but the substance was no longer coming from her wounds.
Plaz looked up at Rainbow Dash, his mouth slightly agape, "We need to tell Twilight and get her some help. Now." Suddenly, the small form in Plaz's forelegs shifted, and he had to adjust his grip so that she wouldn't fall. The filly mumbled something, incomprehensible, but Plaz lowered his ears down to her muzzle to try and make out what she was saying. It was barely a whisper, but Plaz could hear her clearly.
"I... want my... daddy," she whimpered quietly.
"Get Twilight," Plaz said sternly.
Just then, a scream was heard from inside the cabin.
. . . . .
Twilight crouched down next to the co-pilot's seat, checking beneath it. She and Bronze had made quick work of the center of the cockpit, having it been the two of them searching. Now, though, it was more difficult. The rain that leaked in made the floor a dangerous hazard, and slipping would be a one way ticket back down through the fuselage and into the forest floor. Needless to say, neither of the two ponies were interested in re-experiencing the climb up.
"Any luck?" Twilight asked Bronze, though she continued her own search.
"No," he replied. "I found a damaged pair of saddlebags."
"How damaged?"
"They have some small tears, but I'd say that they're useful," Bronze checked over his find. "Oh! And I found a first aid kit in a compartment."
"Really?" Twilight turned in surprise.
Bronze held up a small white case with a red-cross across the front, the words "first-aid' stenciled across the top. "Yup."
"Hang on to that," Twilight instructed, "we'll bring it back to the beach."
"You got it, boss." Bronze placed the box into the bags, resting them on the wall next to the doorway.
Twilight checked under the co-pilot's seat, again, hoping catch even a small glimpse of their objective. She noticed something dully reflective in the corner, and shifted her position to better see it. She saw a black stick-like protrusion from the top of the object and realized what it was. The transceiver. Twilight reached out for it, extending her foreleg out towards the device. She barely reached it, her hoof brushing against the antenna. She struggled to grab it, straining her foreleg out, but with no success.
She sat back and thought for a moment. There was no way she could telekinetically bring the transceiver towards her, there wasn't enough space for it to fit through. Squeezing her arm under the seat was a challenge, in itself. The only way to grab it was to go around, and that meant leaning across the body occupying the seat in front of her, something she had hoped on avoiding. Oh, well. Twilight drew in a deep breath and reached across the stallion's body. She bent over him and leaned in for the transceiver. She grabbed it in her hoof and quickly retracted from across the stallion.
"*GASP! COUGH!*" The stallion shot up in his seat, and Twilight screamed.
Bronze was jolted from his own searching and shouted out, as well. "What the-?!" One of Twilight's legs bashed his nose and he recoiled, clutching at his snout.
"What happened in there? Twilight?" Rainbow's voice could be heard.
"We're fine!" Twilight called back. "There's someone alive!"
The stallion in his seat breathed heavily, and Twilight bolted up to help him. She placed her hooves under the heavy stream of rainwater that fell from the open window, collecting the liquid and redirecting her hooves over to the stallion's muzzle. The water streamed into his open mouth, but he coughed and sputtered. The water was sprayed back out, abruptly.
"H-how... many..." he mumbled. He shut his eyes tightly and groaned in pain, "Oh, my head."
"Careful," Twilight said to him calmly. The stallion started to lean forward, but Twilight gently pushed him back down into his seat. "Easy there." She checked around his cranium and found an egg-sized lump on the back of his head. "Hmm... probably just a concussion," she muttered. "Do you feel as if anything is broken?"
The stallion shook his head, "No... no. I'm fine. How... how many survived?" he asked weakly.
Rainbow shouted back up, again, "Twilight there's-"
"One second Rainbow!" Twilight turned around and collected more water in her hooves. She glanced at Bronze, the brown pony rubbing his snout to soothe the pain. Twilight mouthed a silent, "I'm so sorry," before turning back to the co-pilot. She lifted her water-filled hooves up to the stallion and tipped the liquid into his mouth. He swallowed without dissent, this time. "There were about fifty survivors," she finally responded, "but we haven't made an official count."
"Good... good. How long has it been?" he inquired, tilting his head toward Twilight.
"Around sixteen to seventeen hours, I'd guess," she replied.
The co-pilot sighed, leaning back into his seat. "Oh, Celestia. Has anypony come, yet?"
"No," Bronze answered, "not yet."
"Twilight!" Plaz's voice called.
"Give us a minute!" she shouted back.
The stallion breathed heavily, chest rising and falling intermittently. It was silent, save for the rain pattering against the exterior. "About five hours in," he started, "all of our communications equipment went out. Radios, global positioning, everything... No one could see us. We tried turning back but..."
Twilight leaned in, "What happened?"
"We tried to turn back to... land in the Fillypines," he continued, "but... by the time we hit turbulence... we were over a thousand miles off course."
Bronze glanced between the two of them, uncertainly. "What does that mean?" he asked.
Twilight sat back on her haunches, her expression turing to worry. "They're looking for us in the wrong place," she said dejectedly. Everything changed the moment she realized the gravity of her own words. They weren't just stranded on an island.
They were, undeniably, lost.