The Boeing 777 owner and the Alicorn: Volume I

by Island_Dancer96

Chapter 7: Flying hand in hoof

The next day dawned beautifully in Galveston. As the sun rose out of the ocean, beautiful golden rays of sunlight lit up everything on the island in a soft rosy glow. The morning calm, already complete with the sound of the rolling waves at the island's many beautiful beaches, was further enhanced by the familiar sound of seagull calls, and the call of the many songbirds that inhabited the small island.

The flora and the fauna on the island also awakened. The many flowers which inhabited the island, including the native hibiscus, opened their petals to their full width, and the island almost simultaneously exploded with color. On a Boeing 777-200ER at the local airport, a certain human and lavender alicorn were still asleep. Twilight had both wings wrapped around Jason and Jason was cradling her in his arms while still holding her right hoof in his hand.

As they slept, the golden rays from the sun streaked into the plane and illuminated the interior in a brilliant golden glow. At the same time, sunlight streaked into Jason's room, and sunlight streaked into his and Twilight's eyes. Jason moaned as he woke up. "Morning, Twilight." Jason said to her, looking into her purple eyes.

"Morning, sleepyhead." Twilight said, stroking Jason's side with a wing.

"You ready for our flight?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, but can we have some breakfast? I'm starving." Twilight said.

"Sure." Jason said.

The two got up, and they walked into the dining room and had their breakfast in the exact same chairs they had breakfast when Twilight first arrived on the island. They even had hash browns, orange juice and blueberry muffins again. After breakfast, and Jason changing into his clothes, the two went for the cockpit, but not before Jason pulled off the engine and pitot probe covers.

Soon the two were in the cockpit of the 300 ton plane. As Jason ran through the checklists, the standby instruments, the EICAS and EFIS displays flickered to life in front of Twilight.

Using the MFD, Jason checked all the systems, and everything was normal.

Twilight watched everything with a look of pure awe. Then with all the checklists completed, Jason was ready to start the engines. "Okay, preflight and before start checklists are complete, we're ready to fire up the engines." Jason said. He then flipped both start switches to START. The 2 Rolls Royce engines started up.

As the engines started, Jason kept a close eye on the EICAS display. Twilight watched in awe at everything happening in front of her. "Twilight, this plane has been sitting idle for the past 3 months, and I haven't gone flying since I got tossed out of my house." Jason said.

"Really?" Twilight asked. Jason simply nodded.

Once he got taxi clearance, Jason opened the throttle and the 777 moved under its own power once again. "Jason, we're moving!" Twilight said. Given the small size of Scholes Airport, the 777 was on the runway within a few minutes.

"Ready Twilight?" Jason asked.

"Ready!" Twilight replied.

Soon, their clearance was given. This was the moment Jason always waited for whenever he went flying in his Boeing 777. With clearance given, Jason engaged the parking brake and opened the throttle to full power. The engines suddenly went from the relatively quiet hum of taxiing to a deep throaty roar associated with takeoffs. The familiar roar of the two Rolls Royce Trent 800 engines filled Jason's ears.

"Okay, hang on, Twilight, we'll be going really fast!" With that, Jason released the parking brake. Twilight felt the plane respond with raw power and lurch down the runway.

"Whoa!" Twilight exclaimed. More than 60,000 lbs of thrust slammed Twilight back into her seat, despite her harness. The Boeing 777 lurched backwards and shot forward, both motions felt by Twilight and Jason.

"We sure are going fast!" Twilight said, shaking. When the airspeed indicator needle went past the 120 mark, Jason pulled on the yoke, and almost like magic, the 280 ton plane rose from the concrete runway, and towards the sky.

"Jason, we're flying!" Twilight cried.

"I know." Jason replied as he retracted the landing gear. Once the 777 climbed past 1,500 feet, Jason pulled power, and the sound of the engines quickly went from a deep roar to a gentle hum.

"Jason what are you doing?" Twilight asked, having heard what happened.

"I'm pulling power, it's to reduce wear on the engines." Jason replied, he looked at the EICAS display and power in the engines was tapering off. Jason climbed to 10,800 feet above Galveston, leveled off and started circling.

After what seemed like hours, "Twilight, I know flying's fun and all, but what goes up must come down." Jason said, snapping Twilight out of her thoughts.

"What? We're landing already?" Twilight asked.

"Yep." Jason said, grabbing the manual.

Once getting clearance, Jason started descending to Galveston. While they were descending, Jason ensured they didn't accumulate extra airspeed. Once they were at 2,500 feet, Jason lowered the landing gear. Soon the before landing checklist was completed. As Jason's 777 dropped past 1,900 feet, Galveston was in view.

Soon, the morning flight was done and Jason could teach Twilight about how human flight evolved from the humble beginnings to the high tech it became.

"Okay, Twilight, are you ready for your lecture on human flight?" Jason asked as he undid his harness.

"Yes!" Twilight said, her eyes growing wide.

Jason took Twilight to their room and gave Twilight the lecture. He explained how over the years, people were fascinated with flight, watching birds fly over their houses on a daily basis. And as time went on, during the evolution of human flight, there was a constant succession of pioneers, failures, and deaths which seemed endless until one day in 1903, all that changed. Jason went on to explain how two very ingenious men, Orville and Wilbur Wright, also known as the Wright brothers, discovered the magic of human flight, and in doing so, they discovered a very special kind of magic that can both be enjoyed and shared. Twilight was enthralled.

At the end of the lecture, Twilight was awestruck, "Jason, that was amazing!" She gushed.

"Yeah, it was, and I'm proud of those guys!" Jason said, a small smile on his face.

"If only I could have been there to see that for myself!" Twilight said dreamily.

"Well, that makes two of us." Jason mused, shrugging his shoulders.

Author's Note:

I put the Trent 800 engines on this 777 because the Trent 800 is the standard engine model put on the -200ER models. But some 777-200ERs have the Pratt and Whitney PW4000 and the GE90. Also I put hibiscus in this story because I've seen hibiscus flowers on my many trips to Galveston, and they are beautiful.