//------------------------------// // 4 // Story: The Soldier and the Princess // by ACW //------------------------------// “Tell me something princess, what do you think of flying?” It had been almost a month since the soldier’s surprise drop into Equestria. Yet, despite numerous reminders from Princess Luna to drop the formalities, it was hard for the soldier to totally forget it. Kinda makes me uneasy, the soldier had said before. Stones crunched underfoot and underhoof as Luna contemplated her answer. They were now in a large open clearing, where the light from the moon was able to give more lighting. “Well… flying is something which is second-nature to me since I was born with wings anyway. I remember as a foal that I had much trouble flapping my wings at first, but Celestia was there all the way to guide me with that stage in my childhood. Those were happy memories.” “But after a while, I grew tired of hovering about in the palace courtyard under heavy watch since my parents didn’t want me to get injured, so one night I decided to sneak off on my own and try out more advanced moves I saw my sister perform.” “It didn’t end well for me.” Luna paused for a while, chuckling to herself. “What’s so funny?” “Oh, it’s just that I’m grateful for my body’s enhanced durability. I tried to loop-the-loop, but I briefly blacked out and the next thing I know was that I made a small crater in the castle walls. Everyone woke up from the noise and was scuttling to see what could have done that. It was quite the sight, if you exclude my parent’s and sister’s yelling at me for being so reckless.” The princess let out another chortle. “But all in all, flying is simply marvelous, since you get a different view of the world you are in. It’s also a heavenly experience; the wind in your mane, playing in the clouds, the sense of awe… even though I’ve lived for centuries, the feeling is still wonderful.” The soldier smiled and looked ahead, and Luna asked him, “Why did you ask me that question anyway? Have you flown before?” The soldier scratched his recently shaved chin. “Well, I have flown in machines called planes before. You don’t get to feel the wind or touch the clouds, but if you do get a window seat in the plane, looking out the window is one of the most beautiful sceneries you can get on Earth.” “Well, most of our lives in Earth are spent walking on hard ground, unless you happen to be a pilot who operates such vehicles on a daily basis. So being in the air, it’s something that you can’t get all the time.” “Yet, for all the glamour of flying in the air, people would gradually forget about it and take it for granted. They forget that they once walked on land only and start to not appreciate taking off safely in the air.” “But for me, I’ll always remember my airborne experiences far more than any trip in a plane. That is a whole new level altogether.” Luna scoffed. “ Don’t be silly, you are already airborne when you sit in a plane.” The soldier retorted “No, I don’t mean sitting in a plane. Airborne for me means to actually jump out of the safety of a plane, hoping that your chute deploys safely.” Luna cocked an eyebrow, her curiousity sparked. “Do elaborate, I wish to know more about your ‘airborne experiences’.” The soldier smiled as he drew on past memories to illustrate his point… Even though the sortie wore face masks designed to block out the engine noise, the whine from the machinery still got into all their heads as they ran from the hangar to the lowered walkway of the plane’s belly. One by one they filed, yelling the count as they entered either the left or right side of the plane. Not that they could hear themselves anyway. The noise drowned out even the loudest shout, and the strong wind blown from the engines’ exhaust threatened to blow away the soldiers. Only by leaning forward and holding onto each other did they regain their balance. Three jump masters were stationed with this sortie, and they pushed the men in as quickly as they can so the plane could take off in time. Eventually it did, after the soldiers quickly scrambled to their seats in the cramped space. Buckles clicked as they were slotted into catchers, equipment double checked to ensure they were there before the soldiers settled into their seats, anxiously awaiting their jump. The plane was taxied onto the runway. Soon, the increased acceleration pushed everyone to one side as the plane slowly reached the needed takeoff speed. Ears slowly clogged from the difference in pressure as the plane eventually crept into the sky. There was tension thick in the air. Some soldiers were fiddling with their reserve chutes, wondering if they ever needed to deploy them, and if they did, whether it would deploy without any problems. Others looked at their feet, eyes closed, silent. Despite the colder air, sweat dripped from brows. Those near the windows glanced out of them to see how high up they were. Fifteen minutes later… The jumpmasters signaled for the soldiers to get ready. Seat belts unbuckled, and equipment was checked once again. Seeing that they were done, the jumpmasters set about opening the side doors of the plane while attached to safety hooks in the plane. The low drone of the engines suddenly became full blast when the doors opened. The wind blew into the plane at a speed strong enough to cause some to totter in their places. “Static lines!” The static lines that were attached to each soldiers’ parachute were promptly hooked up onto a metal cable running in the plane. Each soldier tugged at the line to see if it was secure, then held it in the hand nearest to the door they were supposed to jump out from. “Stand at the door!” Boots shuffled as the soldiers left their seats and braced themselves for the inevitable. One soldier managed to shout out a “Hell yeah!” One corporal buried his helmet in the nook of his arm, eyes closed, breathing hard. During the one month of ground training, he had never thought about boarding the aircraft and doing the real thing. Now he was scared. Very scared. “Scared shitless yeah?” His friend behind called out, his helmet and mask barely revealing his face. “You’ve got no bloody idea!” “Everyone here is scared to shit! Hell they can’t even shit bricks!” The jumpmasters started their work. “Go! Go! Go!” they started pushing the soldiers off the plane. He could only move forward with the line. Backing off would only disrupt the line and cause problems for the rest of the sortie. He now stood at the door. He jumped off with a push from the jumpmaster. He was immediately buffeted by the strong wind from the engine, his body pulled almost parallel to the ground. The feeling of zero gravity took over immediately as he felt his insides seem to get pushed up in his body. His heart rate intensified as he grit his teeth to keep himself from crying out in fear. Instead, he focused on counting down to the expected release of his chute. It was hard. Travelling at such a speed high up in the air, fear clutched his entire being. His face grew taut. And then finally, the chute opened after what seemed like an eternity. With a soft ‘whump’, the soldier felt the tug which, though sudden and painful, was a relief to feel. With the stress of the chute not opening gone, he was left with a brief moment to examine the surroundings. It was stunning. He’d sat in planes before, but he was only limited to the view through the window. This time though, he was granted access to an all-round view. The sky, even though it was as it was like before, was still breath taking at this height. His ears hurt a little from the sudden silence in the air. All around him, was just air and nothing else. As he gently descended to the ground, he controlled his flight using two toggles on his parachute, which allowed him to face left and right. The rest of the flight still depended on the wind speed. Luckily for him the wind was not that strong, so he did not have to constantly correct his descent or fight against the wind blowing him in the wrong direction. The ground was approaching, so he prepared himself for landing, tucking his head between his hands that still held the toggles. He bent his knees slightly to take the impact. Contact. Immediately, he transferred the momentum of his fall into a diagonal roll, stopping when his feet went one circle to land on the ground again. Standing up, he unstrapped his parachute harness and looked into the sky, wishing he could be there for longer… “It sounds amazing…” The soldier smiled. “You’ve no idea princess. Being airborne, well, the best I can describe it is that it lets you feel every emotion in those few minutes you spend in the air till you land safely on the ground. There’s the initial excitement, or dread for some, when you start boarding the plane. Then the growing sense of fear as the time to jump arrives.” “Then the terror strikes you hard when you push yourself off the plane into the air. But afterwards you feel relief when the tug of the parachute opening up makes itself known, and that’s when you start looking around and feeling amazed and thrilled.” “Finally, when you land on the ground, the small feeling of sadness that you could only experience such an awesome thing for a few minutes and wishing that you could do this another time.” He sighed. “Sometimes I really envy you and the other ponies that can fly, ‘cos you can do it anytime you want.” At this, Luna had a sudden thought. It was a strange idea, but no doubt it was worth a shot. “So you wish to be ‘airborne’ again?” “Yeah.” “Then climb on my back.” The soldier hesitated, unsure to make of what the princess just said to him. The pony princess, after all, was only just his height, and he was not sure if she could take his weight. Also, it was strange to be climbing a royal figure just like that. “Well come on! We don’t have all night!” “Whatever you say, princess.” Luna actually managed a low growl, which sent the soldier rushing to her side. “This is strange.” “Not as strange as you appearing out of nowhere.” Luna took off, her strong alicorn wings pumping hard with each wing beat. Dried leaves scattered and flew into the air as the current generated by Luna blew them about. Grass flayed about in all directions as they fought to stay upright in the strong wind. As they slowly ascended into the air out of the clearing, the soldier could see Canterlot from a distance. Among the castle walls, small pinpricks of light shone from open windows and guardhouses along the castle battlements. The city was still bustling with activity, light pouring from every street which revealed a large labyrinth of alleys and walkways. It reminded him of a brightly lit runway, beaconing to them that the area was safe to land. They flew silently through the air towards the highest point on Canterlot Castle- the observatory. No words were exchanged between them as the soldier took the time to soak the atmosphere. Luna smiled to herself as she glanced at the soldier at the corner of her eye. He was transfixed. Even though the air was still and with their combined weights, Luna and the soldier were still able to move at a relatively fast speed that forced the soldier to squint as the wind dried his eyes and moaned at the soldier’s ears. He only held onto Luna tighter as she began a steep descent toward the balcony of the castle’s observatory. Guards looked up at the dark shape coming from atop as they stopped midway in their patrol to marvel at the object’s speed of descent and how noiseless it was when it flew. Finally, Luna’s hooves touched the floor of the observatory tower. The soldier promptly slid off her back and turned to face her. “Thanks for the ride. The view was extraordinary, and it was fun riding a flying horse.” Luna chuckled. “Don’t mention it. If you wish, we could always go flying over Equestria instead of walking, since you love spending time in the air.” “Oh, and one more thing. You’re heavier than you look.”