The Titans' Orb

by Mister Horncastle

Chapter Eleven: The Gatwick Heist

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Truth be told, I was terrified as we ran across the runway. I knew that I was invisible, but still, to be doing something so radical and so illegal sent waves of both excitement and panic down my spine. Thankfully no planes were coming in to land at this exact moment; I could only imagine how much scarier this would have been if we had to watch out for taxiing aircraft.

“So where will we find the back door?” Twilight panted as she trotted alongside me.

“My guess is around the back of the building, close to the Control Tower itself.” I huffed back.

Acknowledging my reply but saying nothing, she continued to move in the direction of the tower with me. It concerned me that I could still see her, with her pelt simply being a bit glossier than normal.

“Hey, how come I can still see you?” I asked, not stopping, “Is that normal?”

“It’s because you’re also under the spell.” she clarified, “Anyone under the influence of Invisipone can be seen by anyone else under the effects of Invisipone.”

{Another spell name.} I thought to myself as we went, {I suppose they really do all have names…}

“How long does it last?”

“One hour.” she answered, “Well, one hour for me at least. For you, who’s to say?”

“Comforting!” I wailed sarcastically.

Once we reached the flight tower, we circled around the building until we found the back door, where we came across the first obstacle that would require magical intervention.

A key-coded door.

“Great, now what?” Twilight grumbled.

“The spell you used on my phone? Use it on that keypad.” I instructed, “Try to find the code that unlocks it.”

Dipping her head, Twilight got to work, with the keypad becoming enveloped in a magenta glow.

“Zero, one, seven, three, nine, two, eight, four, six, five, zero.”

I pressed the numbers as she spoke them, and after hitting the final zero, the lock clicked.

“We’re in.” I rumbled excitedly, turning to face her, “Well done, Twilight.”

She responded with a conceited ‘hmph’, while I grabbed the handle and opened the door. Stepping inside, we thankfully found the first room to be empty. There were doors to male and female bathrooms, there was an elevator, and there was a stairwell which led higher up. Though quite cramped, it was far less industrial than I had expected. The floor was carpeted and the walls were painted a vibrant yellow, when I had been expecting bare concrete, long trailing wires, and pipes aplenty. Looking up to one of the far corners, I took note of the CCTV camera that was mounted to the wall, and pointed it out to Twilight.

“Invisipone stays on, no matter what.” I ordered.

“Got it.” she whispered back to me, “Where to now?”

“Onwards and upwards.” I replied with a smirk, pointing to the stairwell.

Quickly and quietly, we crept over and began the ascent. We soon came to realise however, that there would be nothing but stairs for quite some time, as they took us all the way up to where the tower flared out. Soon enough though, we happened upon an access door, which led to the various pipes that ran through the building.

“No use in there.” I grumbled, “We need to find something with a screen, something that connects to the airport’s main systems.”

Saying nothing, Twilight simply nodded and followed me up the stairs. My heart was racing at this point, I was expecting a guard or something to catch me any second now. My hands were visibly shaking, well, they would have been, had they been visible. The next floor up, we came across what would hopefully be the jackpot, as we came across another door labelled ‘Server Room’. Slowly opening the door, we were lucky to find nobody in there and crept inside. However, much to our dismay, there weren’t any computers in this room either, there were just a lot of servers, which with it being the server room, made sense. Without there being any accessible screens, it dawned on me with great reluctance that we would need to head up to the top, and Twilight was not happy about it. Still, there wasn’t a choice, and so we left the server room and pressed on upwards. I then heard a loud groan of frustration from someone, and it wasn’t Twilight.

“Back against the wall, quickly!” I hissed to the mare.

In the blink of an eye, we both slinked up against the yellow wall just as a pair of feet came into sight. Down the steps came a very portly man with an awfully large nose. He had a big bald patch on the back of his head, and a noticeable red wart on his chin. With a face like thunder, he waddled down the stairs muttering angrily to himself.

“Graham do this, Graham do that… Why don’t you do it yourself, you lazy bastard?”

He continued downward until he turned the corner and was out of sight. Jerking my head to where he had come from, I instructed Twilight to follow me. We continued up the stairs and reached the final floor, the Visual Control Room. Turning to the unicorn, I told her the plan.

“Once I open this door, we get inside as quickly as possible. There will be people in there, so keep absolutely silent. I’ll guide you to a computer, where I want you to look for direct flights to Brazil, just as you did on my phone. Once you have the information, I trust you’ll remember it without flaw. Then, we get the hell out of here and back to the girls, do you understand?”

“Yes.” she breathed confidently.

“Okay then. Ready?”

With a brief nod, she confirmed that she was. I placed my hand on the door and took a deep breath, before pushing it open. Almost immediately, someone noticed, and pointed it out to his colleagues as we slipped into the Control Room. He was a tall man with blonde hair, and his fringe was swept across to one side, making it look like a sandy-coloured ocean wave.

“Did anyone else just see that?” he spoke, “The door just opened by itself.”

A rather quirky individual responded, of whom I couldn’t quite place. They had a rounded face and a bob-cut hairstyle, which was dyed green on one side and black on the other.

“It’s probably just Graham messing around.” they said, “Someone have a look.”

A third person went over to inspect the door, while Twilight and I scuttled past all the numerous people who were sitting in front of monitors and control panels, talking to pilots over their headsets. Much to our relief, we found a few monitors that were unmanned, and I pointed to one of them.

“That one there.” I breathed, “Get to work.”

It would seem that the Invisipone spell also affected the further use of magic, for not a sound came from her horn. There was however, just like with the keypad downstairs, a pink glow on the monitor, but it was thankfully too faint to be noticed by anyone. Soon enough, the screen began to flicker and distort, followed by numerous windows and applications popping up. Twilight kept at it, while I watched the Tower staff anxiously, hoping none of them would see what was going on. Thankfully they didn’t, and glancing back at the screen, I found that Twilight had been able to access a file called ‘LGW_Flight_Database.dbf’, which certainly seemed promising. It had been opened by a very complex-looking application, which displayed mountains of data, from flight numbers to company names, along with gate numbers, dates, times, and what I could only presume was a flight map.

Twilight then began to murmur quietly to herself, reciting whatever information was currently flashing inside her head.

“Brit… tish… Air… Airways.”

Shaking her head, she was clearly struggling to comprehend it. I could hear her rapidly breathing through her nose, and it became clear to me that she was panicking. She was surrounded by humans, and they were terrifying her. Edging closer to her, I whispered softly into her ear.

“It’s alright, you’re safe… I’m not going to let anything happen to you…”

Her ears slowly perked back up, and with a nervous gulp, the unicorn focused. There was no telling how this magical interaction with technology really functioned, though with how the mare was struggling, I could only presume that all those ones and zeros had to be translated into individual, comprehensible thoughts. That was my theory anyway, but however it worked, it didn’t matter; what mattered, was that it worked.

“Gatwick… LGW… to Rio de Janeiro… GIG… Gate Seventeen…”

As she kept processing the rest of the flight information, I turned back to find Graham had just returned from his trip down the Tower.

“There was nobody down there!” he declared, “Somebody needs to fix that damn keypad!”

Sitting down at his desk, he immediately began to stuff his face, tucking into a packet of Jacobs Crackers.

“You realise we’re not supposed to have food up here, right?” the blonde man pointed out.

“I just don’t know how he can eat those!” said the green-and-black-haired person, “They’re so dry!”

“I like my crackers, okay Kendall?” Graham squawked with his mouth full.

At this, Kendall rolled their eyes.

“How on earth did you get hired, man?”

Turning back to Twilight, I found that she had just finished downloading the information, and not a moment too soon.

“Hey, can someone take a look at that dash over there?” someone spoke up, “It’s been glitching out.”

We both gulped, knowing that was our queue to leave. Slinking away from the computer, we weaved our way to the door, which I quickly pulled open and scarpered through with Twilight at my heels. Just as we were descending the first flight of steps, I heard the blonde man emit a puzzled shout.

“Okay seriously, did no one else see that!?”

Leaving through the same door we had come in from, we both bent over and let out gargantuan sighs of relief, sucking in the outdoor air and staring at each other with disbelief.

“Oh… m-my… gosh…” she stammered, “That was… so scary!”

“Yeah…” I panted in agreement, before standing up straight, “So, did you get everything?”

Nodding, she confirmed that there was a British Airways flight from Gate Seventeen, going straight to Brazil in about an hour. She then informed me that it was an eleven-hour flight.

“Woof…” I mumbled, not at all looking forward to it.

“I swear, if I run out of mana and we die up there…” she tutted, “I will kill you.”

“And I’ll let you.” I assured her, giving her a wink.

She rolled her eyes, and with us still being by the Control Tower, we got a move on, running back across the runway to inform the others. Returning to the woodland, we found them still patiently waiting on the other side of the fence. Twilight used the same spell from earlier to allow us to pass through, followed by dispelling our invisibility. Having run the whole way back, Twilight dropped to her knees and began panting, trying desperately to oxygenate her body. I on the other hand, was much too full of adrenaline to collapse. Bouncing on the spot like I was Pinkie Pie, I threw punches into the air in front of me and let off a loud whooping sound.

“Woooo! That was the coolest thing I’ve ever done in all my life! Holy shit, I’ve never felt so alive!”

The exhilaration coursing through me had never been so strong, nor had the sense of accomplishment ever been so intense. I had just crept inside an airport’s most important building, gathered vital intelligence, and then slipped away in broad daylight, completely and utterly undetected. I had just lived a moment from a spy film!

“What happened in there?” asked Rainbow Dash, charging up to me with her eyes wide with curiosity.

“Well, I was a ninja, and then I did some ninja stuff.” I announced with a big grin, chopping at the air.

Though she laughed, Rainbow Dash persisted, desperate to know what really happened. Too full of energy to stand still, I said that I would tell her everything on the plane, which would be leaving in about fifty minutes from now. Before she could protest, Twilight ordered the group to pack up the camp, angrily pointing out that it should have been put away while she and I were gone. We got to it, and with my help, the whole camp was packed away in record time. We ended up having a good half-hour left before the flight, and with that, Rainbow Dash made me a proposition.

“Hey dude, weird question, but do you want to have a quick race?”

Speaking her thoughts, she explained that she wanted to know how fast I could run, and if I was capable of beating her. At first I thought such a race would be folly, but then I thought about it; Dashie’s jaw-dropping speeds only pertained to flight. I was a fast runner, and permitting that she didn’t use her wings, and that it was more of a sprint than a marathon, I had something of a chance.

“Alright, why not? But no flying!”

I poked one of her feathery limbs to emphasise the point, to which she nodded enthusiastically.

“Mind if I join y’all?” Applejack requested, “I could do with stretching my legs, especially if we’re about to spend hours stuck in that there plane!”

“By all means!” I replied happily, “The more the merrier!”

Pinkie then jumped forward and quickly appointed herself as the referee. She demanded we follow her to a point of her choosing, while insisting Rarity and Twilight remain where they were to serve as a finish line, with Fluttershy as the overhead judge. Chuckling at her sudden excitement, we shrugged and followed her to a point just beyond where the camp had been, a good hundred metres from the unicorns.

After some stretches to ensure that no muscles were pulled, we waited for Pinkie to start the race. She jammed a hoof into her mane and retrieved a small air horn, to which I stared at her, totally dumbfounded. I then shook my head and tutted, forcing myself to accept that this was Pinkie Pie, anything could have been hidden away in that tangled mop of hers; one of the bloody Orb fragments could have been in there for all I knew!

“Okie dokie lokie, is everyone ready?” Pinkie asked.

I bent down like an Olympic runner, placing my fingertips against the dirt. Applejack and Rainbow Dash did something similar, and we all focused on the three ponies in the distance. Pinkie then began to count down, her excitement unparalleled.

“Three!”

Flexing my calf muscles, I wiggled my jaw with anticipation.

“Two!”

I took a deep breath in through my nose.

“One!”

Releasing the breath through my mouth, I tightened every muscle in my body.

“Go!” Pinkie screamed, sounding off the air horn.

The three of us bolted, and with my arms swinging back and forth, I sprinted as fast as I could, quickly gaining momentum and practically gliding across the ground. To my left, I caught the glimpse of a rainbow-coloured mane, paired with the rapid thudding of her hooves against the ground. To my right, I spotted the golden hair and orange fur, along with the deeper, heavier thudding of Applejack’s tremendous earth pony hooves. Rainbow may have been thinner and lighter, but AJ was easily twice as strong, with her powerful legs allowing her to keep up with ease. These two species of pony were equally matched, and with my own human traits in the mix, we all displayed three completely different forms of athleticism, with none of which being inferior to the other.

This was intense. If we all continued at this speed, the race was going to be very close indeed…

A few yards ahead lay a fallen tree at around knee height. Pinkie had intentionally brought us to where it would be in our path, hoping that it would serve as a hurdle for us. As we all leapt over it, I felt a huge gust of wind, and Rainbow Dash shot forward by a good few metres.

{Oh you little shit!} I thought to her angrily.

That little scallywag had used her wings, and now she was going to win. Still, I aimed to beat Applejack at least, and continued to sprint as fast as I could. Nearing the finish line, I gave one final push of desperation to win, zooming forward to come alongside the cheating pegasus. Noticing that we were neck and neck, Rainbow Dash burst into a final push of her own, and try as I might, she overtook me by a good metre and emerged victorious.

Hurtling past the unicorns, I skidded to a halt and began panting loudly with defeat and exhaustion. Dropping to my knees, I trembled as I gasped for air, deeply heaving as my body urgently demanded that I repaid the oxygen debt. I had my limits when it came to stamina, and this race had surpassed them. Rainbow Dash on the other hand, was prancing circles around me, puffing more with exhilaration than fatigue.

“Oh yeah! Oh yeah!” she sang flamboyantly, “Ha-ha! Stick to marshmallows, two-legs! I’m the fastest one around here and don’t you forget it!”

“Only ‘cus you cheated!” Applejack puffed from behind us.

“Did not!” Dash shouted defensively, clearly insulted.

“You used your wings… when you jumped over the log…” I wheezed, “T’was a… total dick move…”

“No I didn’t!” she protested, before looking infinitely more sheepish, “At least, I don’t remember doing that… Look, I’m a pegasus, if my wings came out, then my wings came out, but I didn’t fly, and that was the agreement! I still won, fair and square, so deal with it!”

It was then, in a state of fear-fuelled bitterness, that Twilight came over to kill the vibe, casting aside our success in the Tower and renewing her acerbic demeanour.

“What is the matter with you all?” she barked, stamping the ground with a hoof, “The fate of our world hangs in the balance, and you’re all here debating the results of a completely pointless race! It’s clear that Rainbow Dash won, and the human can’t handle losing, end of story. Now, if any of you actually want to see your homes again, get your things and get moving, that plane leaves in twenty minutes!”

Well, there went our camaraderie… But for what it was worth, in spite of her barbed words, she was right, we needed to get on that plane. We all put our bags on and the unicorn imbued us with a dose of Invisipone. She then used a far more aggressive spell to burn a hole through the chain-link fence.

{So much for saving mana…} I mused with concern.

Stepping through one after another, we marched across the runway together, with Rainbow Dash promising me that we could have another rematch at a later date.

“I’ll hold you to that.” I muttered, “And next time, I’m lashing those wings to your body with a rope.”

“Ooh, kinky.”

“Oh for goodness’ sake…” I sighed, shaking my head, “You really are a little horndog, aren’t you?”

Smirking, she said yes by way of sticking her tongue out and sending a sultry wink my way. She then trotted off ahead, leaving me to roll my eyes with flustered irritation. With Twilight leading the way, we approached the plane and stopped once we were close by. There was a baggage cart beside it, with two men that were hauling people’s luggage from the cart and onto a conveyor belt, which fed directly into our destination, the cargo hold.

“Alright everypony, ready to fly human style?” I announced merrily.

Pinkie Pie squealed her excitement, and it suddenly dawned on me that I really could just say ‘everypony’ without a hint of irony. Grinning, I took the lead and made my way to the baggage cart, with the others crowding around me.

“What’s the play?” asked Rainbow.

“Easy.” I told her, “We hop on that belt, and in we go.”

Not needing to be told twice, Dashie crept past the men and clambered up. Bobbing her head up and down, she allowed herself to be carried up to the plane’s belly. Even for her, I honestly hadn’t expected her to be so blasé about it, but then again, it was Rainbow Dash. After seeing her disappear through the open hatch, Applejack and Pinkie got on as well, followed by Rarity, and then Fluttershy.

“Is that the lot?” one of the workers shouted to the other, regarding the remaining suitcases.

“Two more!” he called back.

I clambered on, only to realise that Twilight hadn’t joined me. What the hell was she doing!? Jumping back down, I ran to her and ordered her to get on. She didn’t even look at me, she was completely motionless, petrified by the sheer size of the plane, along with the plethora of overstimulating sounds that surrounded us. Without another option, I gave Twilight a shove, startling her.

“Don’t touch m-”

I cut her off by reaching forward and grabbing her muzzle, clamping it shut.

“Get on that belt, right now, or you get left behind.” I growled.

Shaken to her core, the unicorn obeyed without question, scrambling onto the belt and speeding along to reach her friends. I hopped on as well, and upon slipping into the cargo hold, I was caught off-guard to find a third airport worker inside, organising the suitcases and neatly stacking them to allow room for more baggage. Thankfully, the other girls had the good sense to keep away from him and keep their mouths shut. Once the last suitcase was stored and stacked, the conveyor started going in reverse, to which the man hopped out and rode it down. The hatch then closed in on us, and we were sealed in.

We had done it.

Twilight deactivated the invisibility spells to reabsorb some of the remaining mana from them, and immediately stormed up to me with her lips drawn back into a snarl.

“If you… ever… lay those disgusting fleshy claws on me again…” she began, her eyes wild with hate.

“You froze, and I had to get you moving again.” I bit back, genuinely annoyed with her, “I wouldn’t have had to touch you, if you hadn’t lost your damn spine!”

Enraged, the mare stepped to me, firmly planting a hoof against my chest.

“Firstly, watch your tongue, and secondly, I’m not joking. If you ever grab my mouth like that again, you will be guiding this group with as many fingers as I have.”

“I did what was necessary.” I spat, “Now get your hoof off me.”

“Necessary?” she echoed with a voice full of venom, “Oh, I’ll show you necessary…”

She removed her hoof and turned away from me, and I expected that to be the end of it, no more than an empty threat. And then without a hint of warning, Twilight lifted her hind legs and bucked me square in the sternum, completely taking me by surprise. The wind was driven out of me and I dropped to my knees with a thick, weighty grunt. Twilight then tackled me before I could recover, pinning me onto my back, and without an ounce of sanity or mercy, she attempted to repeatedly stamp at me with her forelegs.

“How’s this for necessary, you gormless runt? Huh? You leprous vermin! Is this necessary enough for you, you pink-skinned slime? How’s this for fucking necessary!?”

The ponies all practically screamed, with Rainbow Dash and Applejack barrelling forward to stop her.

“Twilight, stop!” Rainbow Dash shrieked, “What in Tartarus is wrong with you!?”

“Twilight, simmer down!” Applejack shouted after her.

I blocked the blows by covering my head with my hands and wrists, and it took every fibre of me to not retaliate. But there was only so much I could take, and as Applejack and Rainbow fought to remove the mare from assaulting me, I lunged forward and grabbed a clump of her mane, raising her up to look into my seething eyes.

“Hit me again.” I rumbled, “Hit me again and see what happens.”

Applejack then forced her way between us, shoving the both of us apart with remarkable strength and forcing me to let go. With tears in my eyes, I scrambled away from the unicorn, with Rarity and Rainbow Dash both rushing to make sure that I was okay. Applejack meanwhile, took Twilight further away from me and hissed into her ear.

“Twi, look around you. You’re scaring your friends half to death. Fluttershy’s crying her eyes out and Pinkie Pie don’t understand what in tarnation is going on. Now I don’t know why you just attacked him like that, but it came across like you have a gosh-darn mental problem. You’re supposed to lead us on this here mission, so buck up and lead us. And the next time I tell you to simmer down, you simmer the fuck down. Okay?”

The farm pony took a step back, and despite glaring at me with all the malice in the world, it would seem that Twilight would attack me no further. Looking me up and down, she puckered her lips, and then spat onto the metal floor between us. She then turned away and went to sit in the far corner of the cargo hold with her back turned to us.

“Darling, are you alright?” Rarity asked me, doting over me like a concerned mother.

Barely able to regulate my breathing after that buck, I shakily inhaled and gave a nod. Dashie helped me up and I winced, feeling a sharp twinge in my gut. AJ then pushed the pegasus out of the way and demanded to know what had caused all this. Dipping my head, I answered faithfully, explaining how Twilight had frozen in fear by the conveyor belt, and that I had given her a shove to get her on it.

“She started shouting at me.” I went on, “I didn’t want the workers to hear her, so I grabbed her muzzle to keep her quiet.”

“That’s it?” Rainbow gasped, “Here I was hoping you’d punched her in the face.”

“Quiet!” Applejack snapped at her.

She then furrowed her brow at me and shook her head.

“Sugarcube, she hates you enough as it is. You’ve just gone and made things worse, especially with that threat of yours. I don’t know if you meant that or not, but I’m warning you now, it doesn’t matter how Twilight’s behaving at the moment, if you hurt my friend, we’re going to have some problems, you and I.”

Gulping, I nodded, confirming that I got the message. Huffing through her nose, AJ then went to console Fluttershy, of whom was completely and utterly beside herself, weeping and spluttering at the sudden violent outburst. With Pinkie also being upset, and not to mention confused, Rarity went over to explain things to her in a way that she would understand. Still shaking, I looked up at the ceiling to prevent more tears from leaving my eyes. In the space of an hour, we had gone from teamwork and success, to violence and profanity, and I was struggling to cope with the emotional whiplash of it. Seeing just how upset I was, Rainbow Dash chose to stay with me, realising that I was on the verge of falling apart. She pressed up against me and tried her best to provide comfort, using her wings to create something of a visual barrier, allowing me to gather myself in private.

After a good few minutes, our heart-rates settled, and the dust with it. Choosing to be the bigger person, I decided to apologise to Twilight for grabbing her muzzle. I made my approach, and along the way I noticed Applejack frowning with apprehension, presumably checking to see if she should intervene or not. Eventually she chose not to, trusting that I wouldn’t start anything. Twilight backed away as I grew near, staring at me with watery bloodshot eyes. With how terrified she looked, one would think I was planning to skin her alive.

{The fuck did Celestia show this poor creature?} I thought to her silently, struck with a twinge of pity.

“That’s c-close enough…” she stuttered.

Kneeling down, I looked at her and gave a weak smile.

“Listen…” I began, “I know you despise me, and I’m not all that fond of you either. But for the sake of Fluttershy and Pinkie, can we please forget about what just happened? They don’t deserve to be a part of whatever the hell this is between us. If we’re going to fight like this, it needs to happen away from them. I know you see eye-to-eye with me on that, so for their sake… I’m sorry, okay?”

Staring at me in silence, Twilight studied me for what felt like an hour. Her face was then beset with a bitter emptiness, and I knew that she was in accord.

“What I said earlier still applies.” she croaked, “If you grab me like that again…”

“I won’t.” I assured her.

Dipping her head, she looked at her own hooves, before looking back at me and sniffing.

“Okay. Consider it behind us.”

Exhaling, I backed away from her and sat back with Rainbow Dash. The plane’s engines then started up, causing the whole cargo hold to rumble. Though everyone was fearful at first, I explained that this was just the plane beginning to move. The girls calmed down again, with Rarity asking how we would know when the plane was actually taking off. And then, as if her words had triggered it, the aeroplane’s engines went full throttle. There was a sudden jolt, followed by a continuous rattling as the plane hurtled along the runway.

“Right now!” I hollered above the noise, grinning.

The plane started to tilt, and Pinkie jumped up with excitement, resulting in her being flung into all the luggage. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy used their wings to remain unaffected, while both unicorns slid along the floor until they reached one side of the hold. Applejack meanwhile, was catapulted into me and we tumbled around together until the plane finally started to level out.

“Whooee! Now that was something!” AJ cheered, too excited to notice that she was now on top of me.

“Applejack.” I mumbled with my face full of fur.

Looking down, she spotted what little remained of my head that wasn’t under her chest.

“Oh, howdy partner!” she chuckled, getting off me.

Sitting up, I looked around to find that everyone was unscathed, except for Pinkie, of whom was nowhere to be seen.

“Everypony alright?” AJ called out.

The girls gave affirming nods, and then a loud muffling came from the luggage. Looking over to it, I spotted some of the suitcases wobbling around. I hurried over there and moved them aside to find Pinkie Pie giggling out of her wits.

“Oh my gosh that was so much fun!” she squealed with delight, “Did you guys all see that? I flew! Can we do that again? Please can we do it again!?”

Breaking into a laugh, I pulled her out of the pile and checked her over just to ensure she wasn’t at all hurt. Thankfully she wasn’t, and as we all got over the rush of the takeoff, we gathered in the middle of the cargo hold, finally all back to getting along.

After a time, it soon started to get cold, and Rarity asked if Twilight could work her magic with the warmth spells. Nodding, she did just so, and from her horn came a reddish pink light. Rarity’s body then briefly rippled with a shimmer of the same colour, and she immediately relaxed, as though a heated blanket had just been draped over her. One by one, Twilight continued casting the spell until the other girls had received it too. I then received my dose, and I realised that it really was like being wrapped in a heated blanket. I closed my eyes for a moment and cosily drank in the sensation.

“I love magic…” I breathed, opening my eyes again.

Rainbow Dash overheard me and chuckled, giving me a nudge to get my attention.

“Pretty cool, huh?”

I gave my reply in the form of a nod, and then the pegasus scooted closer, pressing lightly into my side. Despite feeling awkward at first, I found myself enjoying the physical presence, and allowed myself to press back into her. She gave me a grin, and then looked around the cargo hold.

“So is there like, any way to make this thing go faster?” she pondered aloud, “Or are we really going to be stuck in here for eleven whole hours?”

“I’m afraid not.” I tutted, “In fact, if the weather’s bad, it’ll take even longer.”

“Ugh, not cool.”

Being such an impatient pony by nature, the estimated time brought a frustrated sigh to the pegasus. Meanwhile, I saw the lengthy flight as an opportunity to learn more about real Equestria, as opposed to My Little Pony’s childlike interpretation of it.

“How about we take this time to share some life stories or something?” I proposed, “A lot of what I know is still from that cartoon, I’d love to learn more about who you all really are.”

“Why, that’s a swell idea!” Applejack agreed, grinning.

Pinkie Pie then hopped up, scuttled over to me, and wrapped her forelegs around my neck.

“Ooh, I have loads of life stories!” she squeaked, “I’ll start with my first one!”

Then without warning, she got into my lap and made herself comfortable, gazing up at me with a great big innocent grin.

“I was born on a Tuesday…”

“You know she won’t stop until she gets to today, right?” Rainbow Dash droned distastefully.

“Ooh, I have an idea!” Fluttershy piped up, finally feeling back to herself.

We looked at her for elaboration, to which she knocked her front hooves together with a giggle.

“Let’s see how long Callum can put up with Pinkie’s whole life story!”

“That’s a great idea!” Pinkie squealed, “I’ll start right now!”

“Hey now,” I chuckled nervously, “let’s not be too hasty with-”

“Now as I said, I was born on a Tuesday, and from that very first day, I liked sugar! Ponies tell me that I had no way of knowing I liked sugar that young, because I didn’t actually eat any until I’d grown up some, but I know deep down in my Pinkie heart that I loved it! But I wasn’t allowed to eat any as a foal, I had to stay on my mother’s milk for many many moons, which was a real bummer, because I love sugar! Anyway…”

Passing a dull glance to Fluttershy, I raised an eyebrow at her. She grinned back at me, and for as toilsome as the next hour or so was now set to be, I was glad to see the pegasus smiling, especially after what had just happened.

That said, this was going to be a long plane ride…

---

Comments

[PonyJoe1]

“How’s this for necessary, you gormless runt? Huh? You leprous vermin! Is this necessary enough for you, you pink-skinned slime? How’s this for fucking necessary!? ”

Twilight's insults never fail to make me laugh.
They're every bit as funny as they are brutal.

[Twanklight Borkle]

Purple mouth grab is not friend.

[RDgamer321]

So fun fact that I learned from a neat little show called Air Crash Investigations, weight and weight distribution of an aircraft is paramount in its ability to take off. Pilots are given a detailed weight of passengers and luggage, and each aircraft has a weight limit for takeoff, if the plane exceeds that limit, it is highly likely that it will fail to produce enough light to counter the weight.

I'm not going to say that the plane taking off with six small equines and a fully grown man unreported in the luggage would be impossible though, but there would probably be some additional turbulence on takeoff as the pilots correct for the additional weight.

This is not a critique of the story; I reiterate that it is completely possible to take off with additional unreported weight. Though I would imagine the pilots would have been a little confused with having to put in a bit more speed than they were expecting.

[Mister Horncastle]

11903055
Oh I'm sure there would have been a touch of pilot confusion for sure.

As you say, it's still a wholly plausible scenario; passengers aren't individually weighed during check-in, it's calculated on averages and such, but it's never bang-on the mark. I guess the pilots for this Brazil flight can just presume that a fair few of their passengers are a little heavier than anticipated? 😆

As someone who strives for realism in my story, I very much enjoy your input.