Stormy wanted to throw the book down, to toss it far away down some deep dark hole as his eyes scanned that line again, the grave of flowers. Instead he gently set it down so it wouldn’t sail to the floor; you never tossed something from the sky unless you didn’t want to see it again, nopony knew where it might land, or in how many pieces. Tears fell onto the cover. It was too much as he tried to organize his thoughts from the past few days.
Humans were full of contradictions. They wrote books that had such horrible things; they beat a pony for being in love. The pegasus had no idea what else. At the same time he had seen the were incredibly loyal, he knew now that Edward was sticking up for him. Stormy pulled out the little book from Edward and looked at the ten dollar bill. Edward didn’t need to borrow money so why did he? The pegasus pondered the problem to no avail.
Stormy stood on the rafter, stretching out the muscles that hadn’t moved most of the night and took a few minutes to preen. His stomach growled, having eaten his leftovers during the night. It was too late to nap or he might miss his flight again so he decided to find some food, they should be open by this time.
He found a place called McDonalds, ordered some fries and found a spot of carpet near his gate. Settling in Stormy pulled out the little blue book. He had to know why people enjoyed that book so much. Going off what he had read it looked like humans would be at constant war not just with each other but with themselves.
The pony took a bite of fries and balked, rummaging through his pack to take a large gulp of water from his bottle. Humans did like their salt; he would have to be careful with his food. Just like his first day with that weird brown sauce, the salt had burned his tongue both times. The ones during the night, his leftovers, weren’t as bad as these new ones. Maybe I should stick with fresh fruit or bread. He wondered, moving to the gate to wait and hope it wouldn’t be a long day.
Stormy got back up; exhaustion had started to set in, he found his hooves had trouble finding their mark as he stumbled into a chair snout first. His nose twinged, itched, and started a sneezing fit that ending with his flank back on the ground. Maybe not. He decided not to shake his head, dizzy enough already. When was the last time I went this long without sleep? Probably when Cloudsdale’s altitude controls broke and it started sinking. No, The pony corrected himself, That was maybe twenty hours. He groaned and kept his fries, slowly munching on them might help keep him awake.
Stormy settled back by his gate and pulled out the blue books while stifling a yawn. His eyes fluttered open and closed.
***
“Now boarding seating group 3.”
Stormy’s snout stuck to the cover of his book, a string of saliva connected him to the book. A pool of wet had seeped through the cover and collected on the pages. He ignored the moisture on his book and shoved it into his saddlebag and galloped to the small line of people and cut off more than one human in the way. Feeling bad but at the same time his just waking brain didn’t want to miss the plane, and no one said anything.
The line had stopped moving as soon as he entered it, if it had been moving before getting into it. Stormy thought about sitting down then looked at his tail before deciding that standing was acceptable less he get stepped on again. Slowly his mind cleared, it wasn’t that the line had stopped but that there was some commotion at the front. An old man in a wheelchair was arguing with a lady at the front, the pegasus couldn’t hear what they were saying. Soon two men in blue uniforms came, pulled the elderly one aside and had a chat. While they talked the line started moving again, it was a steady stream and soon enough he was on the path leading to his second plane ride.
The path to the plane, he thought somepony had called it a jetway, felt different than last time. It was as if it was newer or better constructed. If he couldn’t figure out why the jetway felt different, it was obvious why the interior of the plane looked different. It was massive. Inside were two separate aisles each with four seats and a staircase leading to a second level. This was by far the most massive thing he had since outside of some building.
How can this thing move? Stormy stared in awe, trying to take in every feature at once. There were towns that could fit their entire populations in this behemoth. The front had chairs that could fully recline, one person was already doing such a thing, these ones were only two to a section. His chair in the middle of the plane was more comfortable and the seat seemed much bigger. Stormy was a little happy to have a window as he stared at all the people moving luggage onto an automated ramp that lead into the belly of this beast.
Stormy reopen his blue book and winced at the wet pages. He didn’t have experience with this but hoped it couldn’t permanently harm it. The pegasus just wanted to pass the time before takeoff and maybe distract himself that was the terror of flight but enjoying that his saddlebag fit on the seat with him. The seat rumbled and moved forward, the pony paid no attention to it as something else had hit. It wasn’t that long into the book yet, but he realized why Hunger Games was an important book. It was about being held down and standing up, being passionate and fighting for what you believe in. What am I passionate about? What do I care for and love? He knew it wasn’t weather and people was too broad a subject and he doubted they could ever be understood, let alone by a pony such as him, greater ponies had struggled with it.
It wasn’t until a beam of light pierced his eyes through the small window that he looked up, mouth agape. It wasn’t the nearly empty plane in which no one would get smacked by an errant wing. It wasn’t that they were in the air as he somehow knew they were airborne. Scarlet painted the sky, streaked with amber wisps atop a pearlescent canvas. It rivaled the greatest work of Celestia. Stormy had never seen such artistry or from so high up. He ignored the cloud formations, possible events that would follow. Despite the plane rocking, he felt at peace staring at the work of art. The sky had never done something like that to him; it was purely a job, something to do because he had to.
His wings curled closer to his body and fluffed themselves, the inside of the plane felt chilled, though in a good way. The gentle rocking of the plane was soothing, bringing up memories of flying around in a foal holder that kept him pinned to his mother’s chest. The ill portent of the moon standing next to the sun couldn’t faze him. Is this the real Earth? Stormy asked. One of many questions, curiosities, and wonders. He had no idea if he slept the rest of the way or just stared at the window, and to him it really didn't matter.
***
The trip back to Equestria had been uneventful, outside of an issue finding a ride back or understanding the one he did find. Customs checked his bags and waved him through. This he stood back in the Canterlot Gardens and wondering where to go next. Unfortunately the guard that awaited him wasn’t the one he expected to see. The one he felt he had an obligation to tell of his trip to.
“Stop. We need to do a basic search of you and your possessions.” The earth pony ordered while his unicorn friend went through Stormy’s bag and frisked him for any items. “Did you have a pleasant trip?” The earth pony asked, sounding not at all like he cared, just as a way to pass the time.
Stormy thought for a second, it had been a mixed bag and very tiring but somehow… somehow he had enjoyed it. “Yes. It was different and scary but there was something great about it.
The unicorn gave a nod to his partner.
“You’re free to go Mister Skies.” The earth pony’s voice just as flat as it had been.
Stormy thanks them and walked off. How boring must their job be? Standing in one spot all day. Do they talk to each other to pass the time or is that against the rules? In the end it didn’t really matter to the pegasus, there were bigger problems at hoof. He did not want to go home, that seemed worse than his initial trip to Earth, but they would be worried at his being so late. If he didn’t go home his parent’s might decide to not let him stay there for two months. He also wanted to thank Ai for her help and to show that he really was trying, the morning sky being one of the things. Then he needed to visit the library, there was so much he needed to know of human society and their world just to live among them for nine months. There were so many questions and things to do.
He took a nice big breathe of air, enjoying the sweet taste of flowers and clear air. Stormy hacked a few times as his lungs had trouble switching from the air of Earth and its various chemicals. It was good to be home for two months.