//------------------------------// // Chapter 18.5: Spitfire's Diary (Part 4) // Story: Bailing Out // by PhillyCh3zSt3ak //------------------------------// A/N: So we're going to get some very important insights in Spitfire's mind in this entry, especially over the events of the Christmas chapter. I eluded that I would get to that eventually as soon as the normal pace of the story caught up to the date in that chapter. The dates that this ranges from is October just after Halloween into January; so remember that formatting thing I mentioned concerning dates, this would be the instance that it would kick in. Anyway enough of my ranting and stuff, enjoy the entry. October 20 Things got crazy with the gene therapy drug used on Andrew. The day went quite swimmingly until about after lunch when we were in the flight simulators, which by the way were a blast. He started having massive migraines and borderline blacked out before we, me and another soldier on base, got him to the infirmary. They gave him a light sedative to help with the pain. But that's when the unspeakable started to happen. He started writhing in pain as bone started to pierce through the skin on back right near the shoulder blades, aka the scapula. There was blood leaking everywhere as the bone grew out. The medics applied gauze to attempt to lessen the bleeding, but that only did so much. Eventually I had to leave, I just couldn't take the smell of blood and antiseptic anymore. He was in so much agony that they sent someone down to the R&D department and found some sort of truth serum that after a short amount of time caused short term memory loss for a few hours. They combined it with the sedative and knocked him out cold. I just hope that he doesn't remember any of that. October 22 They wouldn't let me in to see Andrew last night. That German doctor said that he needed it to be "as sterile as possible" to prevent infection. They could have let me in to see him in one of those clean suits. But NO they had to keep me out. However today I asked again and apparently I could go in for a short bit after they change out the bandages. When I saw him unconscious on the bed I couldn't help wanting just to hold his hand telling him that it was going to be ok, even if he couldn't hear me. I saw that the featherless wings were grown out about a fourth of their total final length. They had started a saline IV line laced with more sedatives. They pretty much want him out for the count until the bones are finished growing completely. I feel as though Andrew should have turned down the Joint Chiefs instead of agreeing to their little "deal," especially if this is what he's going through. I head a horrible screaming on the other side of the base, which should have been impossible due to the Doppler effect and all that. Or was it sound dampening? I digress. Anyway the screams, they were ear piercing, I would have been surprised if anyone didn't hear it. Then the lights flickered on and off rapidly, I really hope no one on base was inclined to have epileptic seizures, because that would have definitely set them off. Then the lights all turned red and a warning klaxon started blaring and pandemonium started raging through out the base. It stopped a few minutes later, I was later told that planes had exploded outside and that the base's reactor almost went critical after some weird phenomenon happened that they won't tell me about. It was scary, even for me. The worst part was being out of the loop entirely, but then again you're used to being in the loop when you're the captain of Equestria's elite flying team. October 25 I talked to that German scientist today, well I more or less confronted him and asked why the wings were growing so fast. It turns out that they added more of those nanites in the solution to speed up the process, however due to a gross miscalculation on one of the programmer's part in which they forgot a "4" in the place of the "weeks" section of how slow to take it. What was supposed to be similar to a baby's tooth growing into a vacant slot turned into what I've seen in Skyrim when you transform into the vampire lord, borderline instantaneous growth, which is beyond painful. I got to visit Andrew after that confrontation, which by the way wanted me to plant a solid fist to that guy's face by the way, and the wings were at their fully grown length. They were already starting to grow feathers. They're small right now, but based on this growth by tomorrow they should be fully grown and be ready to fly with. With of course a preening beforehand. I'll get it all done before they take him off the sedatives tomorrow if they're ready. I'll show Andrew how to do it himself later. I know exactly what's going to happen when he regains full consciousness, he's going to want to fly. For some reason in angel brain physiology it's just wired to make us want to fly every chance we get. Being here has made it quite difficult when it's all said and done, but coming to this base and flying around after sessions with that psychologist has made that itch a little more manageable. Back home preening another's wings is almost as sacred as marriage is here to certain religions, it's only done with someone special who you can absolutely trust with anything with. The reasoning behind it is because you're more or less holding each other's life in your hands. If you make one wrong placement it could mean the difference between a successful loop-de-loop and falling thousands of feet to either a permanent injury or death. It happened years before I took over as captain of the Wonderbolts, a young rookie had his then girlfriend preen his wings one day after a sex romp before a performance. He tried to pull a high G turn during a trick but was unable to pull up due to a lack of lift and smashed into a wall at high speeds, paralyzing him from the neck down. I don't know what happened to the two of them after, but the story remains as a constant cautionary tale on the team of putting your life in someone else's hands by not preening your own wings. I should get to sleep. I have an early day tomorrow of preparation. They've been letting me stay here in the infirmary room. One of the nurses even brought me a pillow and blanket just before I started writing. There are some really nice people here, reminds me of home. October 27 Andrew just woke up about an hour ago. He's getting a bite to eat as I write this since he hasn't eaten in almost a week. We're going to go out for his first flight. I can't help but be a bit excited for him. Yesterday I got his wings all perfectly preened so he's pretty much good to go. I can't wait to see him start flying and once he sees and feels just how fun it is he won't be able to resist the call of the skies. Or well hopefully be able to control himself while also not resisting, you know what I mean. We're going to drive out into the middle of the desert to have a private one on one flying lesson. This should be a fun experience for the both of us, now we have one more thing in common that we can do. Oh my God, I sound like one of those people that don't know anything about their spouse before marrying them, or even new couples. How I loathe those kinds of people... You know what kinds I'm talking about, the ones that don't attempt to learn anything. Now I've just gotten off topic again. Well here comes Andrew now, time to do some flying. October 27 +3 hours I'm shocked, just dumbfounded. I just received the worst news that I could ever hear. Princess Twilight has just said that it may either be impossible for me to come home, or that it'll take much longer than expected. It started shortly after Andrew and I got back to our place, I had set him down in his recliner so that he could prop up his twisted ankle from a botched landing, when shortly after we watched some TV Twilight told us through that rift thing that I may not be able to come home so soon as she thought because she had returned the Elements to the "Tree of Harmony" in order to stop some 1000 year old scheme that Discord put into place before his reformation. So in order to save the country they pretty much left me here. I know the saying "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one," but that doesn't mean I don't feel shafted right now. I guess I'll write more on this later when I can really think straight. October 29 A few days ago Andrew and I were called back to the base just hours after we left to have a private flying lesson and returned home with one new injury. The reason? There's a spy on base sabotaging this whole gene science thing they've been working on. We sat in a waiting room, or what could be considered a waiting room. Then we were interrogated by some CIA spook whose name was Finley. He asked about everything and we cooperated, up until he was called out and we were dismissed. I don't like the idea of a spy sabotaging this experiment, what if it had been Andrew that had been affected instead of that Private? I would have lost it. Right now Andrew is the only person that I can truly trust here. I have a feeling that this won't be the last of Agent Finley and his rival mystery spy. October 31 Today certainly was the interesting day. Today Andrew scared kids wearing a grim reaper's outfit claiming to be the "angel of death." At least though we both got to let our wings out without any suspicion. I even got some really nice compliments about them, then again everyone thought they were really good fakes, BUT receiving any compliment is nice. This holiday though reminds me of Nightmare Night so much, however with less parties involving the entire neighborhood though. Andrew gave me a good reason why though, it pretty much all stopped after the 1970's or so. It's crazy scary how similar holidays and customs that exist here are either replicated or borderline identical back home. Part of this makes me homesick, it really does. But where is home really? Is it here with Andrew, or back home in Cloudsdale? They say "home is where the heart is," I guess I'll have to think about this some more in depth. November 29 I've been thinking. What if I can't go home at all? What if I am stuck here for the rest of my days here with Andrew and his crazy-ass family? More on that second part in a bit though. I remember Twilight saying that she may not be able to get me home for a long while, or not at all. What's to stop me now from putting down roots? Starting a family? Getting to the point of where Andrew and I can be more... intimate. Of course those might be in the reverse order, but the point is still valid. Then if Twilight does manage to get me back home do I take Andrew with me? If we have children do I take them with me or leave them with Andrew if he doesn't or can't come with? I'd prefer that first one if that scenario would happen, but it does bring up some very valid questions that I'm going to have to ask myself over the coming months. We cuddle, kiss, and sleep in the same bed; but we haven't slept together in the romantic/intimate sense since that Vegas wedding ceremony. Will our current relationship stay the way it is, even when sex gets introduced, or will it change in a direction that we do or don't want? That's what's scaring me the most right now on an emotional level. Onto Andrew's crazy-ass family. His parents are nice, but ask really awkward questions. One of which spawned that idea for possibly starting a family here with Andrew. Anyway his mother, well my mother-in-law, is a great cook. I can see where Andrew gets his culinary skills, or well what he knows about cooking at least. We haven't had a major kitchen disaster so far. His dad is well, I really don't know how to paint a picture of him. He's got that air of authority, mainly because he's the head of the household, but he's also has that subtle underlay of "fuck with my family I'll blow your head clean off." His brother though, well I'm going to be honest. He's kind of a self-absorbed child that's too old to be a child. It doesn't help his case that he's never had a job and doesn't plan to anytime soon. He kept looking at me with wandering eyes attempting to sneak a peek at my breasts and ass. After a short talk, which involved a frying pan and the threat of cutting off a certain piece of his anatomy that he's quite attached to, he left us alone; well mainly Andrew was left alone. I never got the pleasure of meeting Andrew's sister, however I might be able to around Christmas if she's there. I like this holiday that we just celebrated, Thanksgiving. It's a day to pig out on good food and be with family both immediate and gained through marriage. Today is Black Friday, Andrew's parents went to the stores in the area and bought a bunch of presents for the next major holiday, Christmas. It gets nuts. Andrew showed me the surveillance video of that poor woman that got trampled to death in a Target or something from years ago that went viral. He told me that most stores don't get that way, but events like this one were a dime a dozen. People are so weird here, and that's coming from the flying person who lives in a world of others who can fly and use magic to do anything. December 17 So Christmas is in one week and I still haven't gotten Andrew anything as a gift. There's so many things that I could go with from the practical to the "nice to have" genre of things. I've been thinking though, why don't I get him something that no one else could give him? And I mean nobody else, just me. I'll really have to think this one though and plan it to a T. Anyway, Christmas decorations around the house have been put up like the tree. Andrew says that it's a tradition that goes all the way back to a guy named Martin Luther back in Germany in the 1500's. According to legend/history about this guy it says that he was walking outdoors in Germany when he saw an evergreen tree and it looked like it pointed towards "heaven." He chopped it down and displayed it in his house using candles and ornaments to decorate it. Ever since then the Christmas tree has been an essential piece of the holiday. It's kind of cool that a tradition such as that has lasted over 500 years to this very day. Sort of like the decorations that are used during Hearth's Warming. December 22 I've thought about it long and hard (phrasing. Sorry I've been watching a lot of Archer recently), and I thought of the perfect gift for Andrew. I mean it's absolutely perfect and I'm the only one who could possibly give it to him. That and I also got him something else that he'd like. But in case Andrew decides to sneak a peek in here for hints on what I'm going to get him. Wait for Christmas you sneak! December 25 That was well worth the wait. Close to four months have passed since Andrew and I got married in the eyes of his laws, and we finally had sex of our own volition two days ago. No alcohol was involved at all. To make the night special I even got some really nice lingerie to wear. All I have to say is that he was stunned, but in a good way. I practically threw myself at him in someone else's house, no wait I did do that. Sorry homeowner of that cabin for the mess we made. All I have to say was it was amazing, I really believe that I made the right choice here. Andrew tried to turn me down at first, but when I told him that it was something I wanted he gave in, well it sort of helped that I had boobs in his face, that tends to mesmerize men no matter how gentlemanly they are. The reason we didn't fly to Andrew's grandparents' place was because he didn't really feel all that confident in flying long distances as of yet. That and there was a week's worth of luggage that we'd have to carry. Anyway I got to finally meet his sister Emily. She was initially suspicious of me, however she took a long look at me before giving me her "approval." Apparently Andrew had some bad experiences with women in the past and his sister had gotten extremely overprotective of him because of that. I even got to meet his niece as well. She is the most adorable girl that I've ever seen, and this is comparing her to that sister of Rarity's. If those two had a cuteness competition they'd tie, and probably cause a plethora of heart attacks. There's also something about her, something familiar, I just can't put my finger on it. I swear I've seen her somewhere before coming here to this world, but for some reason it just escapes me at the moment. Little Jenny calls me "Auntie Sam" in the most adorable voice you ever would have heard. It turns out that I'm going to have another niece or nephew via Emily. Turns out she's preggers, so that's pretty exciting. Onto Christmas news. The holiday was great, well other than getting stranded the day before. BUT on the other hand we had sex, so it sort of equals out. We exchanged gifts earlier this morning. Jenny got a bunch of toys, there were even some Legos in there too. She apparently likes building stuff like space ships and other stuff. Apparently it reminds Andrew of how him and Emily used to make things out of Legos when they were younger. Andrew got me jewelry and I got him a revolver, a really nice one I might add. I have no idea what happened to Pete, I heard that he's hanging out with a friend or something back at Phoenix. So we're supposed to be heading back to Vegas in a few days, since there's snow here I heard that Andrew was going to take me snowboarding or skiing tomorrow. That should be fun. January 1, 2021 Well we're back home in Vegas. We had fun in the snow over in Colorado. I almost broke my ankle when I fell down while snowboarding. Luckily it was only a bruise that cleared up a few days later. Well we woke up this morning naked and happy, and slightly hung over from last night's little personal celebration of "ringing in the new year" party. It's been a crazy six months since I've arrived here, and I'm pretty happy all things considering. I have a husband that loves me, in-laws that are pretty nuts (well except for Emily, she's one of the less crazy ones), a good job, and a nice house to live in. Part of me wishes that I could go home, and another part that wishes that I could just stay here. I know that one day soon I'll have to choose one or the other, not both.