• Published 11th Apr 2012
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PonyFall: Onward Valiant Crusaders - Fullmetal Pony



A man finds 3 familiar girls one day

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Rocket Mare

April 24, 2012

Departure Day

Mom,

You’ll probably be the first to get to this and I’m sorry about that. Me being gone will probably scare the hell out of you. I can’t tell you how sorry I am for the lies I’ve told for the past few days, but you wouldn’t believe me if I told you the truth. All I can say for now is that I know what really caused the attack at my school and I’m trying to find a way to prevent it from happening again. Don’t bother trying to find me. Also, sorry about the credit card withdrawals, I’ll work however long dad wants me to when I get back. Tell Rachel and the dogs that I love them. Hopefully, I’ll be back soon.

John

Long after dad had left for work and ten minutes after mom and Rachel left for school, the Crusaders and I were on the sidewalk in front of my house, waiting. A black medium-sized car appeared from the off of the main street and came to a stop in front of us. I’m convinced yellow cabs don’t exist in Arizona. The passenger seat window rolled down, revealing a gruff aged man with a wispy mustache. “Bacanti?”

“Yup.” The driver slid out of his seat and opened up the back of the car. We all made our way back and helped load up the back.

Apple Bloom decided to pick up one of the larger of the three suitcases, but the driver reached out to stop her. “Woah there kid, you’re too young to throw out your back.”

“I got it.” Apple Bloom ignored the driver’s offer and chucked the suitcase into the back with a thud. Given my arm, I was glad for the driver’s help with the other two suitcases.

The driver shut the door and spun around back to the front of the car. “That sister of yours has got some strength to her.”

“Thanks,” Apple Bloom said with a grin.

“Eh, she has to make up for mine.” I opened up the door for the girls to get into the back seat, shut it, and took my own place in the passenger’s seat. We were off from my house in an instant.

“Where ya flying off to today?” the driver asked.

“L.A.” I partially lied.

“Fun... if you don’t mind the traffic,” the driver joked. He jerked a thumb back at the girls. “It their first time flying?”

I couldn’t resist glancing back at Scootaloo. “Uh, no.”

“Ah, they’ll get to go through the joys of security,” the driver sarcastically droned. “Sorry, kids.”

“Why?” Sweetie’s voice carried a slight tremble to it. To my chagrin, I remembered a time a certain pony had gone “flying” and nearly ended up a smear on the ground. That’s not even considering what I watched and what really happened.

“Nothing too bad,” I assured Sweetie and the other Crusaders. “Mostly just standing in a line. I’ll handle most of it, but you’ll have to take off your shoes and jackets.” At least here they won’t be checking the passports.

“Sounds weird,” Scootaloo commented. “I get that the clothes would weigh us down, but wouldn’t we take them all off if we need to fly?”

The driver guffawed. It was a testament to his skill that he kept driving straight and a relief to me. I’d have probably veered at such a question and jumped in my seat at it. “Geez, it really is these kids’ first flight! Sweetie, you take off anymore than what they ask for and your brother might get in trouble.”

Sweetie shifted around and lunged forward to look at the driver. “Hey, I’m Sweetie, she’s Sco—”

“Yes, Sally, you’re a sweetie, but so is your sister. It’s just a compliment,” I interjected.

Apple Bloom raised up an arm and rested it on her head. “I’m confused.”

The driver smiled at our little comedy routine. “Sound like ya’ve got the proper mindset for the airport. It’s confusing enough just driving people here and there, but what else are people in Arizona gonna use a cab for?” He glanced up at the rear-view mirror and his smile faded. “Er, darn tailgaters. Of course it’s a teenager. No offense, but kids your age need to work on their driving.”

“Eh, you should see some of my friend’s dri—” A buzzing in my pants cut me off. Knew I forgot something. Getting out of the house, I hadn’t taken the time to turn off my phone. It wasn’t too much of a setback and, for the morning, it would keep anyone from getting suspicious. I pulled out my phone and let it buzz for the amount of time that it would probably take me to wake up, get over to my table where the phone charged, and picked it up. I didn’t like that it was Rachel calling, but mom was probably the one driving her to school today. I clicked the answer symbol and put the phone to my ear. “Hello?”

“You bastard, what the hell are you doing?” Rachel hissed.

“Rachel!” mom shouted. Evidently, I was on speaker mode on Rachel’s phone. “Don’t you dare talk to your brother like that! Now you turn this car around right now!”

Oh, that’s not good. “Morning to you too. Has my sleep now become offensive to you as well?”

“Don’t give me that crap, John,” Rachel replied. “I can see your damn head from my car and I saw you when we pulled out from Black Dog.”

“Oh, you saw me yesterday you mean?” My hand clenched the armrest like my life depended on it. In truth, we had passed Black Dog on the way to the airport since it was impossible to avoid if you were going west from my house. I glanced up at the rear-view mirror and was met with mom’s white SUV tailgating the hell out the cab.

“No you stupid asshole! I see you right now!” It wasn’t difficult to see Rachel yelling into the bluetooth system her phone was hooked up to in mom’s car. We were on a two lane street and in the left lane. There were two cars to the cab’s right that prevented Rachel from pulling up next to us. I needed her gone now. “I also saw those kids in the cab! I knew you were hiding something!”

“Damn it, Rachel!” mom cursed. “You get back to school this instant! Your father is going to tear you apart for this once I’m done! Now hang up and give me your phone!”

“No!” Rachel yelled back. “Mom, he’s been lying to you this whole time! As soon as these damn cars move, I’m going to prove it!”

“All you’ll prove is that I’m back at home, confused and getting annoyed,” I huffed. One of the cars on my right had turned at a stoplight. Up ahead loomed another stop, one that the cab would have to turn left on. The road we’d be going on had three lanes instead of two, too much space for Rachel to maneuver the car. I glanced back up at the rear-view mirror and then the buttons above them. The cab had skylight.

My hand went over the phone for a second and I twisted my head over to the driver. “It’s a little stuffy in here. Mind if I open the skylight?”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t.” While he talked, I’d already moved my finger up to open button, which slid the glass back. “But you’re not listening.”

“John!” Rachel screamed for the phone. “Who are you talking to? I heard voices!”

“That’s it!” mom screeched. “Rachel Bacanti! You pull over right now! Right now!”

“I’d listen to her, Rachel.” I pressed down on my seatbelt and lept up.

“What the hell are you doing?” the driver bellowed.

I ignored him and popped out through the skylight. The wind whipped at my hair given the speed the cab was going. It was easy to make out mom’s car now. Rachel had a death grip on the wheel and a maddened look in her eyes. Mom was incredibly red and shouting at Rachel while Rachel in turn was shouting into her phone. “Cellphones are dangerous when you’re driving! Sorry mom!”

Whatever Rachel said next into the phone, I didn’t hear due to my phone rocketing out of my hand. It sailed over the cab and right into the front window of mom’s car. There was a loud fwak and my phone turned into a scramble of metal, electronics, and plastic. At forty miles-per-hour, it also managed to put an impressive crack in the window.

I couldn’t see Rachel’s face because of the crack, but I was able to see her arms flail against the driving wheel. Mom’s car careened to to the right and crunched into another car. I didn’t stick above the car to see the rest. The driver yanking on my shirt probably helped my descent back into my seat as well.

“You idiot!” he roared. His face looked purple. “I oughta take you to the police for what you just did!”

“Not if you want triple pay, plus a generous bonus!” I jabbed back. The Benjamin I pulled out of my wallet did the rest. “Deal?”

We came to the stoplight where we had to make a left turn. The Crusaders’ heads switched between looking at the mess I’d caused and the driver. The driver firmly gripped the wheel and stared ahead. The turn arrow became green and he snatched up the bill. “I didn’t see nothin’, I didn’t hear nothin’.” He glanced back at the girls. “Unless I hear it’s something involving them or I get a squad car on me.”

“Got it.” I turned back to make sure the Crusaders were okay. All of them were looking back at the accident. An additional car had hit mom’s bumper, but other than that, no one else seemed to have been involved in the actual crash. That meant little considering I had blocked off the entire right side of the street with my stunt. I averted my eyes from the wreck and focused on the girls. “Ya’ll okay?”

“That wasn’t very nice of ya,” said Apple Bloom. “Ya coulda really hurt your sister and your ma.”

Sweetie picked up her knees and hugged them. “I knew these things were dangerous.”

Scootaloo stared back at the wreck and then at me. She raised up her arms and shrugged her shoulders. “Dash probably woulda done the same thing, only cooler.” She flattened out her hand and shot it straight up and whooshed it around in front of her. “She’d zoom into air, land on the car, deliver a super-cool one-liner, and jump off right before the bad guys would go up in a huge explosion!”

Proper words mulled around in my mouth for a second. “Sc— um, Samantha, you didn’t happen to watch any other movies over the past few days? Any ones with a giant guy and a funny voice?”

“No, just that one movie... why?” Scootaloo asked.

“Nothing, nevermind.” I waved away the line of discussion with my hand. The day I tell a pony about Arnold or Stallone is the day I die. “Anyway, sorry about that, but Rachel would have ruined our chances of making our plane.”

“That’s bad... right?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Very bad,” I answered. “Planes can get delayed anyway and that throws off your whole schedule. Plus, there’s all the lines. It’ll be fine once we get through those though, I promise.”

~~~

I stepped out of the cab and exhaled deeply. No cops had showed up to pursue us. The smell of gas, people taking one last drag of a cigarette, and cheap AC swirled around us. I always did love the smell of the airport. Despite the earlier issues, the driver seemed to have taken well to my “tip” and went to the back along with us to help us unload. He said nothing and quickly hefted the bags onto a curb. He remained quiet, got back into his seat, and sped off.

Sweetie raised an arm up to her face and covered her nose with her cardigan. “This place kinda smells.”

“Come on, this might take a bit.” We didn’t linger on the curb and entered into the terminal. I scanned the numerous airlines and eventually spotted the one that was listed on the tickets. I was about to take a step in that direction when I remembered just how daunting the sheer size of the airport was to me as a I kid. “Girls, hold hands.”

“Okay!” they all hurriedly replied. We all linked hands and marched over to the airline counter and the line that awaited us. People hustled and bustled around us, transporting all sorts of luggage.

“This place is even busier than the train station at Canterlot,” Sweetie said with awe. Her head was swirling around in every direction, and she probably would have walked straight into a wall if it weren’t for our joined hands. “Are all these people going somewhere?”

“Or coming.” We came to a stop at the airline and joined the end of the line. It stretched back a few rows and it looked like we’d be here for a few minutes. I released my hand and took hold of one of the suitcases the Crusaders had taken for me. “Airports are very busy places with people coming and going all the time. That’s why we need to stick together; it’s very easy to get lost here.”

An especially loud plane flew in from above. We couldn’t see it since the checking and baggage claim was a story below the landing strip and the only view outside was to the arrival and departure lanes for cars. The girls’ eyes practically rolled to the back of the heads. They clutched each other close and looked in all directions for the source of the sound.

“W-what was that?” Apple Bloom stuttered.

“A dragon?” Sweetie squeaked.

“An Ursa Minor?” Scootaloo quivered.

“A plane,” I explained before going onto one knee and looking at the girls. “Sorry, I should have warned you that they can be really loud. Sometimes, they can even make your ears pop, but I’ve got gum to deal with that.”

“Wait!” Apple Bloom shoved a hand into my face. “That was a plane? Ya want us to get on that? I can understand cars, but that thing was definitely a monster!”

I sighed and got back on my feet. The line had inched forward anyway and I didn’t want to hold it up. “It’s not a monster. Do any of the people here look scared? Don’t worry, once you see the planes you’ll understand.”

The girls stayed close to each other all the way to the front of the line. At the counter, an assistant waited for us, but I knew first I had to scan the tickets in. “Mr. Bacanti, Sybil Adams, Sasha Adams, and Arya Adams. Flight from Phoenix to LA and LA to Sydney, Australia. Will you be checking bags today, sir?”

“Yep.” I clamped a hand around one of the suitcases and hefted it onto the scale. It came out to below fifty pounds, which I was heavily relieved at. I repeated the process two more times and the assistant tagged each one of the bags. The Crusaders’ eyes flicked back and forth between the bags, me, and the attendant.

“All right,” said the attendant once the last bag was checked and off on the conveyor belt. “Your luggage will be delivered to Sydney where you can pick it up. Further details will be given at your arrival. Your departure gate is A27. Have a nice trip.”

“Thanks.” I turned away from the check-in counter, grasped Apple Bloom’s hand and led the girls over to the escalator. I may have been transporting three ponies-turned-human across country lines, but only one thought came to my mind. We must look strange with no carry-on bags. It’ll make security go faster, at least.

Upstairs, I made a beeline for the A gates. The security line was light, but that was to be expected on a Tuesday morning. It didn’t stop me from halting the girls before we got in line. “Okay, this is the part where we have to take off our shoes and jackets.” I gestured up the front of the line where three TSA agents looked over tickets and schedules before sending people to get their bags scanned and they bodies x-rayed. “You’ll just have to go through the gates up there and wait for me once you get through it.”

“Got it,” said Scootaloo while the others nodded.

We got in line and waited. The line moved at a regimented pace and we were up to the agents in short order. I pulled out the tickets and my driver’s license for the agent I went to and kept my hand on Scootaloo’s back to keep the girls close. The agent glanced at the tickets and my ID and scribbled on them before sticking a hand out to one of the x-ray lines. LA will be the real issue with the passports.

We walked over to one of the lines and I pulled out a few bins. “Alright girls, this is the part where you take off your shoes and jackets.”

They listened and handed them off to me. I followed with removing my own jacket and shoes plus my belt, backpack, wallet, and keys. A brief moment of panic hit me when I searched my pockets for my phone and came up with nothing, then I remembered I’d shattered it on mom’s windshield. Remembering that made me groan a little, but I sucked it up and led the girls over to the x-ray machine.

Scootaloo was at the front of the line and stepped past the yellow waiting mat straight up to the machine, but was stopped by a TSA agent’s leg blocking her path. “Hold on. You’ll be up in a second.”

Scootaloo huffed and waited until the agent removed his leg and let her through. Another agent had to stop her from walking straight through the machine and had to show her the correct posture to take. I made sure Sweetie and Apple Bloom paid attention so we didn’t delay the line. “Just watch what they’re having Scootaloo do and you’ll be fine.”

“This seems pretty silly,” Apple Bloom commented.

Sweetie watched as the two bars in the x-ray machine swung around and scanned Scootaloo. “What’s that thing do, anyway?”

“It sees through you,” I explained. Scootaloo’s scan finished and Apple Bloom was led through to the machine. “It scans your body and makes sure you aren’t hiding anything.”

“Isn’t that a vio... a veealay... an invasion of privacy?” asked Sweetie.

“Oh, more than you know,” I joked, “but sometimes bad people try to bring bad things onto planes. This is the only way to check.”

“Oh... so it’s like Mr. Armor’s shield spell?”

The question slightly took me aback. If what was in the season finale was at least partially true, then Shining Armor’s spell was in fact very similar to getting scanned at the airport. Thinking about it made me wish airports just had a giant bubble that wouldn’t let terrorists in. It would certainly save time. In my pensive state, I hadn’t responded to Sweetie before she was ushered into the machine as well.

A sudden thought gripped me as she assumed the arms-over-the-head position in the machine. What if her magic messes up the machines?

I watched with wide eyes as the bars circled around Sweetie and kept my focus on her when it was my turn to step up. Inside the machine, I watched as the TSA agent on the other side waited to get the scan results and then let Sweetie through. I released I breath I realized I’d held as I stepped out of the machine and waited for my own result.

“Sir, I’m gonna need to you step aside,” said the TSA agent. My heart lept into my chest. What is it? Sweetie? Did mom or dad call the cops on me? What?

I silently obeyed and stepped to the side where the agent could question me. It’s not like I had a choice in the matter, I’d already taken too much of a risk with the car accident earlier. There was no way I was getting past the TSA.

“Sir, when did you get this cast?” the agent asked while pointing a finger at said offending article.

“Last week... on Tuesday,” I stuttered. Are you serious?

“Okay, I’m gonna need to take a swab of it to make sure you aren’t carrying any dangerous weapons or chemicals on you.” The agent grabbed a swab and stroked it over my cast. She dropped it into a machine, read the screen, and looked back at me. “You’re good to go, have a nice day.”

“Thanks.” For almost giving me a heart attack. I sped away from the agent and back over to my stuff, which had accumulated in a pile at the end of the luggage x-ray belt. The Crusaders had already pulled on their shoes and jackets again, leaving me to be that guy who held up security at the airport.

Apple Bloom bent down and secured her right shoe onto her foot. “What happened?”

“They were just worried about my cast.” I shoved my wallet and keys into my jeans, put my jacket and belt back on and slung my backpack over my shoulders. “It always happens when you’ve got a cast or other medical issue at the airport. Now lets get some gum and get to our gate.”

I took the lead in the group once more and showed the girls down the long hall that led to the A gates. Windows lined the hall and those moving floors were at the sides of the hall as well. I chose regular walking since having the floor move under them on top of everything else might have been too much for the girls.

Another plane rushed down onto the landing strip and garnered all the girls’ attention with its screaming engines. It wasn’t too large of a plane, probably similar to the one we’d be taking to LA.

“Whoa,” Scootaloo gaped. Her grip slackened and she drifted over to a window. Her eyes traced the path of the plane landing, but widened when she saw another one take off. She spun around and wildly jabbed her hand at the plane that quickly became a spot in the air. “It flew! It flew! That was so cool!”

“How the hay did it do that?” asked a stunned Apple Bloom. “It was bigger than a barn!”

“It wasn’t even flapping its wings!” said Sweetie.

“Yeah, but you saw how fast it was going, right?” Scootaloo grinned.

I glanced up at one of the many clocks that dotted the hall. We still had half-an-hour to go before our plane departed, so I found no harm in letting the girls watch a few more lift-offs and landings. After a third plane took off, I placed a hand on Scootaloo and my cast on Sweetie to encircle them. “You’ll be able to watch more planes at the gate, but we need to get some stuff before we get on.”

I ushered the girls down the remainder of the long hallway and into the corridor that held our gate, a cheap news shop, and about a dozen expensive restaurants.

As we stepped into the news shop, Scootaloo turned her head up to me. “So, how do planes work if they don’t flap their wings?”

“They go super fast, that’s why they’re so loud.” I went over to a rack of cheap watches and picked one up. It was the only thing I really needed save for the gum, which was at the register anyway. “It’s their engines turning so fast and their jets flaring up.”

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. “Jets?”

“Hmm...” Explaining flight was proving to be a bit harder than I expected. As I spoke, I picked up a packet of gum and laid it and the watch on the checkout counter. “You’ve seen fireworks before, right?”

All three of them nodded.

“Imagine using the fire from a firework, only bigger and for a real long time. That’s what a jet engine is like.” The cashier rung up the watch and gum and I gave her twenty bucks to cover it. Once I got my change back, I quickly strapped the watch onto my good arm.

“But what about the wings then?” Apple Bloom pointed out.

“For steering and keeping the plane in the air and balanced,” I answered. “You have to make a lot of careful movements in order to keep a plane airborne, it’s why wings have little flaps on them to make tiny corrections to flying.”

Scootaloo scratched her chin. “It kinda sounds like flying... why don’t the wings flap like a pegasus’s though? Wouldn’t that work better?”

“People tried that a long time ago,” I chuckled, recalling silly novelty rides at the renaissance faire. My eyes went over to the an ATM sign. Cover’s blown, might as well go out with a bang. “It didn’t work. We had to try a lot of different types of planes before we found one that worked.”

“That sounds really hard,” Apple Bloom. The ATM took in my credit card and I hastily typed in the pin number. I said a silent prayer of forgiveness and typed in a one and three zeros. “Whoever made planes must've been really smart.”

“It actually took a pair of brothers.” The ten Benjamins came out of the ATM and into my wallet. I took the card back and stuffed it in my wallet as well. It was just plastic now. “They probably almost got themselves killed more times than I can count.”

“Flight 284, Phoenix to LA, your plane will be open for boarding in a few minutes,” a voice blazed over the intercom system.

“That’s us.” I grasped Sweetie’s hand this time and the girls all linked their hands too. It was a short trek over to our gate where a line had already formed. We stood and waited along with everyone else.

Sweetie clenched my hand to get my attention. “What do you mean, ‘almost got themselves killed’?”

“Oh...” I playfully waved my cast at Sweetie and the other Crusaders. It wasn’t hard to tell that they were holding their breaths. “Well, it was hard to figure out flight, but once the brothers did it became much safer. People first made planes a hundred years ago and we’ve only been making them better since then.”

“Seating group three,” said the attendant at the desk.

The line lurched forward and I moved the Crusaders along. We entered the narrow walkway that led to the plane. A faint chill filled the hall to combine with the scent of recycled air, fake leather, and cheap fabric. Sweetie saw the gap between the plane and the walkway and gulped. I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and smiled. “It’s okay.”

Sweetie closed her eyes and slowly put a shaking foot onto the plane. Her other foot followed in a half-step half-jump. She landed and hit my leg with enough force to knock me slightly off-balance. I had to grasp at a wall to avoid barreling into a stewardess. Said stewardess gave me a glare and I hustled the girls along. Luckily, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had less trepidation about getting on and quickly joined us on the plane.

We shuffled back until I spotted three empty seats on one side of the aisle and one seat on the other side. “Here.” I ushered the girls into the empty row and took my own seat opposite to them.

Sweetie took the window seat, Apple Bloom the middle one, and Scootaloo the aisle. Apple Bloom snuggled into her seat and automatically clicked on her seatbelt. “This isn’t too bad... it’s just like a big car.”

Sweetie lurched forward and turned her head left to look past Apple Bloom and out the window. “I was wondering what those holes were.”

Scootaloo imitated Sweetie and stared out the window. “That is pretty cool.”

“Wait till we’re in the air.” I undid the wrapper on the gum package and pulled out three pieces. “Take these, you’ll need them for your ears.”

Scootaloo was the first to open the foil on her piece. She pinched the ends of the gum and tore it in half before raising the pieces up to her ears.”

“No!” I called out. “You chew it.”

Sweetie raised an eyebrow. She’d done the same with her piece of gum as Scootaloo, as had Apple Bloom. “You said it was for our ears.”

“Chewing it will help your ears unplug when they pop. See, when you go into the air real fast in a plane, the pressure changes and it makes your ears get clogged. The gum helps to unclog your ears when you chew it.”

The Crusaders gave me blank stares in response. I leaned back in my seat and sighed. “Just chew it. Trust me, you’ll thank me in a few minutes.”

All three of them shrugged and popped the gum into the mouths. The final passengers took their seats and the cabin door closed. The stewardess from before came to the front of the plane with the intercom in her hand. “Attention passengers. We have shut the cabin door and will be departing shortly. Please bring your attention to the front of the cabin so that we may direct you in the proper safety procedures.”

I sighed again and made sure my backpack was securely under the seat in front of me. The lack of carry-on luggage was a boon since it would have taken an eternity to get it into the overhead compartments. The stewardess continued the old spiel, brandishing a seatbelt and an oxygen mask when necessary.

The Crusaders soaked in every word of the safety instructions. They craned their necks and leaned forward to watch the stewardess. Bill Murray stepping onto the plane and re-enacting Ghostbusters would get less attention from them. When the stewardess finished, they all fell back into their seats and looked at me.

Sweetie was the first to speak. “There sure are a lot of things that can happen to a plane.”

“Yeah,” said Apple Bloom. “They’ve got life-jackets, masks, and even emergency exits. I think Pinkie is less prepared for disasters.”

“People all have a lot of worries,” I explained. The plane bumped back and taxied onto the runway. “Plane owners want to make sure people feel safe, so they put every single precaution they can onto their planes.” Note to self, never ever mention Airplane to the Crusaders.

“First time flying?” asked the middle-aged man next to me. A woman, who I assumed was his wife, was next to him in the window seat. Somehow, she’d already conked out and was slightly snoring.

“Yeah... you know how kids can be,” I replied.

The man smiled at us. “Oh, I remember when I took my daughter on her first flight. Course, she was much younger than them and wailed like a baby, but at least we didn’t have all the security lines back then. She was happy when we got in the air. Loved the clouds.”

Scootaloo’s eyes lit up. “You get near the clouds?”

“Well, of course,” the man chuckled. He glanced to the window. We were lined up and the engines were spinning to life. “Now you kids keep your head straight and get ready to fly.”

Before any of the Crusaders could say anything else, the plane accelerated. It raced forward with its engines blaring throughout the plane. Apple Bloom grasped her hand to her ears as Sweetie leaned over to hug her, and Scootaloo put a death grip on her arm rests.

Don’t scream, don’t scream, don’t scream! I mentally prayed. The plane climbed higher and higher, and the Crusaders’ various holds tightened. Finally, after a tense few moments, the plane began to level out. I timidly reached across the aisle and prodded Scootaloo. She flinched as her whole body shook. “Hey-hey, it’s okay. It’s over.”

Scootaloo responded with flailing clenched fists at my arm. “That! Was! Scary!”

“Scoots...” Apple Bloom pushed Sweetie off of herself and tapped Scootaloo on the shoulder. With her other hand, she jerked a finger at the window. “Ya might want to look outside.”

Scootaloo growled and turned around. Her eyes went wider than dinner plates. She undid her seatbelt and pressed her face up the glass. “We’re so high!”

The stewardess was on us in an instant. “Sir, please get your sister into your seat.”

“You heard her,” I said to Scootaloo. “Or you can trade places with Amanda.

“Please!” Scootaloo pleaded to both me and Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom nodded, undid her seatbelt and traded places with Scootaloo.

The stewardess gave us one last glare before going back to the front of the plane. Scootaloo pressed her face to the glass and was lost to the world. I sank back into my seat and pulled out the skymall magazine. Sweetie coughed and pounded her chest. “I think I swallowed my gum.”

“Sorry about that. Are you ears okay?” I asked.

“The feel like they’ve got water in them,” Sweetie complained.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out another piece of gum. “Here ya go. Everyone else okay?”

“Yeah, sure-sure,” Scootaloo droned.

“I’m okay,” Apple Bloom replied. Her eyes drifted down to the magazine in my lap. “What's that?”

“This?” The cover of the magazine had a kid next to a life-size R2D2. I flipped it open and showed her a random page filled with knick-knacks, lawn ornaments, and a few “high-tech” machines. “It’s a magazine that you can order pretty much anything from. They have all sorts of stuff.” My finger went to a giant wall hanging that was filled with empty boxes. “Like this, it’s the world’s largest crossword puzzle.”

“Whoa,” Sweetie and Apple Bloom both gawked.

“Rarity would love that,” Sweetie commented. “She does them every morning in the paper... never finishes them though.”

“What’s this thing?” Apple Bloom reached across the aisle and pointed at a “revolutionary new migraine reducer.” The thing looked like a combination of sunglasses and some medieval torture device with blunt points that went into your eyes.

“Uh... it says it helps with headaches, but it looks really painful,” I answered.

“Oh!” Sweetie reached forward and pointed at a k-cup coffee maker. “What’s this?”

~~~

We were about halfway through the skymall magazine when the final descent message came out from the intercom. We handed off the empty cans of apple, cranberry, and orange juice that we’d all had to drink to the stewardess who was collecting trash. Luckily, the trash stewardess wasn’t the same one as before. She gave the girls a smile and took their trash and mine before moving on.

The man next to me gave a chuckle as I put the magazine back in the seat pocket. “That has got to be the most interest I’ve ever seen in that magazine.”

“I can’t believe they make that much stuff for your feet!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.

“I can’t believe they make so much stuff, period!” said Sweetie.

“Oh!” Scootaloo’s grin widened. “We’re getting closer to the ground! This is so cool!”

All of us stared at her for a second before bursting into laughter. Scootaloo reddened and crossed her arms. “S-shut up! It’s not that funny!”

The plane touched down a few minutes later and we stepped out into LAX. The California day was bright and clear, which put a smile on my face. We got out of our gate and grabbed each others’ hands again. “Now to get to the international terminal.”

Said terminal was on the other side of the airport. We jogged outside and got onto one of the inter-terminal buses. On the bus, Apple Bloom looked up at me. “Are we going to see Pinkie and Fluttershy now?”

“No,” I answered. “That plane was just to get to this airport. The next flight will take us to Pinkie and Fluttershy.”

“Why couldn’t we just take the plane we were on?” asked Scootaloo. “It flew us to wherever this is.”

“It’s not built that way.” The bus came to a stop at the terminal we needed and I led the girls off. “There are many different kinds of planes. The one we were just on was meant for shorter distances.”

We passed through a pair of doors and I turned to my left. A sign over a hallway indicated the correct gate we needed to get to. We marched down it and took our place in another security line. “The one we’re going on next is meant for longer distances. It’s actually kinda fun. You get food and some movies to watch.”

That was the most I could sugarcoat the experience. I slung my backpack around and pulled out all the passports and the tickets. My wallet followed and Doug’s credit card joined the pile of flight documents. We advanced upon the TSA agent and I took a deep breath. Okay, last hurdle.

“Passports, tickets, and credit card please?” the agent called out. I listened and handed him all of it. I heard a nearby clock ticking as the agent shifted through the papers, stuck tickets to passports, examined the credit card, and finally stamped all four passports. “Move along.”

“Thanks,” I exhaled before pushing the Crusaders along. I’d done it. I had managed to slip through the system and was on my way to Australia. I placed my backpack onto the scanning belt and the girls followed me in placing their shoes and jackets on it. We all stepped through the x-ray machine once more and out the other side. I didn’t really mind, I was in the clear. Well, that was easy.

On the other side, another TSA agent looked at my x-ray scan and back at me. “Sir, I’m gonna need you to step aside to check your cast.”

Well, every plan has its bumps.

~~~

The plane reminded me of the time I traveled to England: wide aisles, three rows of seats, and a good amount of legroom. It looked promising for now. We were even lucky enough to have the middle row, which meant we were all together. Apple Bloom took an aisle seat, I took the one next to her, Scootaloo sat next to me and Sweetie occupied the other aisle seat.

Apple Bloom reached out and grabbed one of the magazines in the seat pocket. “These are different from the ones on the other plane.”

“Yep.” I grabbed my own magazine and opened it. It was the airline magazine; a glance at the contents page revealed it was filled with tourist trap articles on various areas of Australia. My eyes did spot one section that interested me though, the in-flight movies. I quickly flipped to the near-back of the book and showed it to the girls. “Lets see what movie they’re playing.”

I read through the page and my pupils shrank into pinpricks. The first in-flight movie was some recent Jim Carrey family flick that looked meh. It was the second movie that made me hold my breath. It was a very simple title, only two letters, but it was bad, real bad.

“John?” Sweetie peered up at me. “You don’t look good. Is something wrong?”

I breathed in deeply and focused. “It’s... well... the film they’re gonna show is really sad at the beginning. It’s a really good film, but you don’t have to watch it if you don’t want to.” I pulled out the headphones from the seat pocket. “You listen by plugging these things into that little hole in your armrest.

“However...” I reached into my my backpack and shuffled my hand around. Out of the pack came my hand and three Nintendo DSs of various size and color. “I’ve also got video games.”

Apple Bloom’s jaw dropped. “On those tiny things?”

“Yep.” I clicked on my 3DS and showed it over to Apple Bloom. “See? I’ve even got a game on it you’ll love. It’s called The Legend of Zelda...

~~~

“Arg!” Apple Bloom cried out. She shut the lid of the 3DS and stuffed it into my chest. “That big jellyfish critter doesn’t play fair!”

“Oh, now come on, Apple Bloom.” I opened up the 3DS to see what the trouble was. On-screen, Link was passed out with a game over sign hanging over his head. “I know Barrinade is hard, but it’s worth it. Beat him and you’ll get a great new weapon.”

“Well... that triforce thing does sound pretty interesting... and I don’t want the bad guy to win.” Apple Bloom reached out and snatched the 3DS back. “I’m gonna try one more time.”

“I’m here if you need any help.” My slightly dry mouth was a testament to that. The first hour on the plane had been spent explaining just the DS alone and how playing it worked. Once that was settled, I’d moved on to showing all the girls how to play the actual games. For Sweetie and Scootaloo’s games, it’d been easy to explain the basics and I only needed to check on them from time to time. Apple Bloom was a different matter, since parts of Zelda relied on the dialogue. Damn that stupid owl and his text wall to the blackest pits of hell. On that, Apple Bloom and I agreed, even if her angry button mashing at the bastard had only exacerbated the issue.

Apple Bloom went back to getting up to the boss again and I turned my attention over to Sweetie and Scootaloo. “And how are ya’ll doing?”

“Great!” Scootaloo replied. She flashed her screen in my direction. The screen showed a roster of four tiny sprites. One looked like a bird, another like a turtle, a third like a cricket, and a final one like a manhole cover. “My Turtwig got stronger and now looks even more awesome! I even managed to beat the second boss guy!”

“My Chikorita is so happy,” Sweetie sang. “It loves going on walks with me. I bet it will get stronger too, just like Scootaloo’s pet.”

“You have to battle other monsters to get stronger, Sweetie,” said Scootaloo. She didn’t even look up from her game.

“No, not my Chiki!” Sweetie clasped the DS to her chest like it was a kitten. “This is the first pet I’ve had that hasn’t wanted to kill me. I’m not gonna let her get hurt.”

“Wait... pull up your menu.” Scootaloo abandoned her game for second and peered over onto Sweetie’s screen. Sweetie’s roster was empty save for her starter pokemon. Scootaloo glanced at the screen and grinned. “Sweetie, your Chikorita’s a guy.”

Sweetie blushed deeply and turned back to her game. “Fine! I’ll show you! I’m going to make my Chikorita the best Chikorita there ever was!”

I nefariously smiled and decided to play devil’s advocate. “You know, you can go to a Poke-Center and fight each other, right?”

Both Sweetie and Scootaloo’s eyes widened, only for them to narrow as they glared at each other. Scootaloo smirked. “It’s on.”

“Just give me a little time to train,” Sweetie bargained.

“Fine,” Scootaloo chuckled. “I want a good fight anyway.”

~~~

“John...” Apple Bloom moaned. “I don’t wanna play the lullaby anymore. Make it stop.”

“Okay,” Scootaloo huffed at Sweetie. “We’ll fight again when we reach level forty. This time, I’ll beat you with with my Gabite.”

“Don’t you dare,” Sweetie hissed. “You’re worse than Ms. Whitney.”

“Who do you think I learned the trick from?” Scootaloo grinned.

I simply played music on my computer and prayed the charge would last long enough on all the devices. Outside, twilight was taking over the word. A glimpse down revealed nothing but ocean; that’s all it would be for the rest of this trip.

So far, the trip had been quite successful. The Crusaders had been engrossed in their games and my guidance had helped them through the tough spots. It was difficult to not curse at Whitney though when I was helping Sweetie. Other than that, my little challenge to Sweetie and Scootaloo was going swimmingly. They both strived to outdo each other with every battle and it had rewarded them with some quite powerful pokemon.

Apple Bloom, in the meantime, had conquered the first part of Ocarina and had struggled into the Water Temple. Of course, I’d made it a strong point to highlight Epona. Apple Bloom traveled everywhere with the horse and had stayed at Lon-Lon Ranch for quite some time just listening to the music. She’d raised up a hand to rub her eye and I told her she could stop playing if her eyes hurt. She’d sighed and put the 3DS down for a bit.

Dinner had come a little after that, so a break was needed anyway. Scootaloo managed to eat the meal, but Sweetie and Apple Bloom had a little more trepidation. I’d apologized since there was nothing else to eat and their stomachs’ rumbling was a good argument in my favor. They’d moaned throughout it but were able to choke it down. As soon as they finished, they went back to their games, with me standing at the sidelines to assist when necessary.

~~~

It was black outside now. In front of us, the large screen that separated coach from economy was filled with the ending credits of one of the in-flight movies. It wasn’t the Jim Carrey film and was unfamiliar to me, so it might have been a local Australian film. The cabin was dark as well and all around me, people were asleep.

Sweetie and Apple Bloom had their seats reclined back and their eyes shut. Sweetie’s mouth dangled open and a few snores escaped out of Apple Bloom’s. I shut my computer and looked at the in-flight movie screen. It was black now but quickly lit up again. I reached into my seat pocket and pulled out my headphones.

“So why is the movie sad?”

I flipped my head up and stared at Scootaloo. I’d forgotten that she was awake too. “Oh, well, it starts off with a boy finding a very pretty girl and they like each other a lot. So, they love each other, get married, and grow up. Then...”

“Then?”

“They get old,” I sighed. “One day, the girl is a fragile old lady and she gets sick...”

Scootaloo twisted her eyes to the ground. “She doesn’t make it, does she?”

I stayed silent. “Scootaloo, it’s late, you should try to get to sleep.”

“It’s fine... it’d be weird to sleep while I’m flying anyway. Dad always tells me how you have to be careful when you’re flying.”

“Oh yeah?” I saw a chance to turn the discussion away from Up and seized it. “What are your parents like, anyway?”

“My dad works for the weather patrol,” Scootaloo explained with a smile. “Before Rainbow Dash showed up, he was the one in charge, but he hurt his wings a while ago and decided to let Rainbow Dash take charge instead.”

“Neat.” I leaned over in my chair, eager to hear more. “Sorry about his wings, but that’s pretty cool that your dad was so important to Ponyville. What about your mom?”

“Mom...” Scootaloo’s throat twitched a little. “Mom also worked on the weather team. Dad said that’s how he met her. Apparently, she was even faster than Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh, can she not fly that fast anymore?”

“She can’t fly at all.”

I blinked. “What?”

Scootaloo pulled her jacket closer and stared straight ahead. “A long time ago, a really bad storm came out of the Everfree forest. Dad and every other pegasus in Ponyville tried to stop it, but it was too strong. A lot of ponies got hurt... including mom. She was at home when it happened. At least, that’s what dad says. When the storm passed, mom’s wings were both really bad, so dad had to fly her to the hospital. That’s when I was born and mom never flew again.”

“Scootaloo...” I reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder.

“Mom says it’s not my fault, but every time I look at her wings...” Scootaloo stopped and sniffled. “You have to promise you won’t tell Rainbow Dash. She’ll think I stole my mom’s wings.”

“That’s not true. Scootaloo, I’m sure your mom would say she’d rather have you than her wings any day.”

Scootaloo reached up to her face and rubbed her eye. “That’s what she says, too.”

“Hey.” I flipped open my computer again. “How about we watch a different movie? I think my computer has enough juice for that.”

“Do... do you have anything funny?”

“In fact, I do.” I clicked through iTunes and pulled up one of the movies in my library. “Since we’re meeting Fluttershy, why don’t I show you another animal lover? Plus, I need to make up for that other Jim Carrey movie.”

“Um, what?”

“Just watch, you'll like it.”

~~~

Scootaloo’s head slumped against my arm. On-screen, Ace had just uncovered Finkle’s identity and was using a plunger to recover from the horror of it. I chuckled and let the movie keep playing. Around me, the Crusaders slept soundly. No nightmares, no magic spikes, and no sudden monstrous strength. For now at least, things felt on track. In a few hours, we’d be one step closer to getting the ponies home.

End Part One

Finale of Solitary

Author's Note:

The climatic conclusion of part one! Jesus, this is my longest chapter that is part of a greater story... no, I'm not counting Set Adrift.

Man, I hope I didn't miss anything. Anyway, hope you all enjoy this one year anniversary chapter. Ponyfall enters a new stage next time!