• Published 5th Oct 2017
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Bermuda Beginnings - ScarFox9700



The REAL story of Flight 19, and what happened in Equestria as a result of a pilot's arrival

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Chapter 9: Meeting a Princess, and Time Spent Together

All too soon though, the 30 remaining minutes were up, and it was time to go meet the princess. Taylor checked his uniform one last time, and then he and Redheart, joined moments later by the Doctor and Nurse Starlight, all made their way to the throne room. The entire way, they were escorted by guards, so as to provide security. Taylor was still awed by the guard's uniforms.

"Is, is that bronze that your armor is made out of?" He asked the closest guard, a whitish-gray unicorn with blue eyes, and a blue mane and tail.

"No, it's not bronze, our armor is made out of gold."

Taylor was stunned. "Gold?! Real gold?"

The guard nodded. "That's what I said, didn't I?"

Now Taylor was both stunned, and confused. "But, why gold? It's heavy, and it's not the strongest metal ever. Why don't you guys use iron, or even something like steel?"

The guard shrugged. "I don't know, but I agree with you completely. However, this golden armor is just our traditional, ceremonial armor. In the event of a real conflict, we bring out the real armor."

"Oh, and what does that look like?"

"Um, well, to be perfectly honest, I actually have no idea. We haven't had any wars in almost 1,000 years. Supposedly, it's in some military storeroom here in Canterlot, but who knows if that's even true."

Taylor couldn't even fully wrap his head around that. "Earth civilizations have trouble going even a few WEEKS without a serious conflict", Taylor thought, but 1,000 years?!?!?! That's insane! And with no real armor and weapons readily available, any real conflict would most likely be an absolute disaster."

Taylor didn't want to sound crazy, so he decided to keep his thoughts to himself. Instead, he asked the guard, "Um, I don't believe I caught your name."

"Oh, its Armor. Strong-arm "Tinker" Armor. Royal Guard Captain."

"Charles Taylor. United States Navy Lieutenant."

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

They both shook, well, Armor extended his hoof, and Taylor took it, and shook it as best he could. After this introduction was over, the group continued walking, Taylor and Redheart continued their conversation about Cloudsdale.

"Cloudsdale is also the home of Equestria's weather factory. It's where teams of pegasai work hard to take the rainbow spectrum, and turn it into the clouds that produce our weather.

Taylor was perplexed. "So you mean to tell me that weather doesn't just fall from the sky naturally, depending on the season? It's actually created in a factory?"

"No to your first question, and yes to your second one. It's all created at the weather factory."

"One more quick question though, where does all of that rainbow spectrum actually come from?"

Redheart thought for a moment. "Well", she said slowly, "I actually don't know; it's a very closely guarded secret. However, a friend of mine who works at the factory, Buttercup, told me that it's created in some kind of labs or something in a building located higher up in the clouds, and sent down to the main factory through a series of pipes and flumes."

Taylor though about that. "Huh, must be a pretty important secret if it's actually made in a separate building. I wonder....."

Before Taylor could think on this any more, the guards suddenly stopped.

"We're here." One of them announced.

They then stepped in front of two massive arched doors, and opened them for the group. Once the doors were open, all of them stepped aside to let the group pass. The doctor entered first, followed by Nurse Starlight, then Taylor, with Nurse Redheart by his side.

The throne room was almost like a really long, and incredibly high cathedral. There were marble columns, a high vaulted ceiling, perfectly pristine white walls, and beautiful stained glass windows. The entire length of the hallway was also with guards placed at various intervals as well.

"Come forwards, my subjects." A voice from the far side of the room beckoned.

Taylor looked to see where the voice was coming from. At the very end of the long throne room, he saw a small flight of about 6 steps with crystal clear fountains on both sides. At the base of the steps, stood two guards. At the top though, there was a golden throne, with red upholstery, as well as an image of a sun.

What really held Taylor's attention though, was the pony seated seated on the throne; a beautiful, white-furred mare. She looked like a unicorn, but she had wings as well. "She really is an Alicorn", Taylor thought to himself.

Taylor also saw that she had purplish-pink eyes, 4 golden horse shoes on her hooves, a golden breastplate on her chest inlaid with stones, and a golden tiara on her head. Most fascinating of all though, was her mane and tail. They were both green, blue, and pink, and were constantly waving, almost as though they were being moved by invisible fingers.

All the while Taylor was taking in the beauty of the princess, the group was moving towards the throne. Once they came almost to the first step, close to the two guards, the doctor stopped, and the rest of the group did likewise. All of them then knelt down out of respect, waiting for the command to rise. Taylor also removed his flight hat, and held it in his hands.

"You may arise, my subjects." As they did so, the Princess then arose, and came down to steps to greet her new visitors.

"So", she said, looking first at the doctor, then directly at Taylor, "You are the creature from Earth who has come to Equestria, are you not?"

"Um, y-yes Ma'am."

Celestia smiled. "What is your name, my sweet?"

"I am Lieutenant Charles Taylor Ma'am, but you can just call me 'Taylor', Ma'am, that is, if you wish."

Celestia smiled again. "Well then, welcome Mr. Taylor, welcome. I am Princess Celestia, and this, is the magical land of Equestria, my kingdom. Please" she gestured with her hoof, "Walk with me."

Taylor then walked beside her, while the doctor and the two nurses walked behind just a bit. After leaving the throne room, Celestia led the way out to her private garden. Once they were there though, she asked all three of the medical staff to leave for a bit, as she wished to speak to Taylor in private.

All of them were a least a little bit disappointed, especially the doctor, but they didn't dare argue with their princess, so they all scooted off back towards the main hall, where they returned to their quarters.

Once they were gone though, Taylor was now feeling especially nervous. He had never met anyone more important than a commodore, or a rear admiral, not even the president; to say nothing of a princess! Celestia noticed his uneasiness.

"What's wrong Dear? You seem like your going to faint."

Celestia then sat down on a cushion, and Taylor sat down on the grass in front of her.

"Oh, um, it's nothing, Princess Celestia", Taylor sighed, "It's just that, well, I'm still really having a hard time believing that all of this isn't just a dream, or that I'm dead. I still don't know how I got here, but most of all, I've never talked to a princess before."

"Celestia giggled softly at his statements. "Well, I can certainly understand you being nervous, but yet", here her smile vanished, "There is something that you should know about how you got here."

Taylor was confused. "What do you mean Princess?"

Celestia sighed. "It's all my fault that you're here, and that you crash-landed."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I mean, that for several years now, I've been trying to see if other worlds existed, and if so, were they suitable for exploration by ponykind, and even, if we could bring a member of the population here. For a long time, we had no luck. All worlds that we did find were either uninhabitable, had life that was incredibly hostile, or non-sentient. Then, just when all seemed lost, I suddenly had a breakthrough. At some point last year, I was able to locate a planet that had incredible potential. It had an oxygen atmosphere, good sunlight, and it also seemed to be teeming with life. However, there also seemed to be a war going on as well. I did try elsewhere yesterday afternoon, but all that was revealed to me was a dark ocean, in the middle of a storm."

"That was most likely the Atlantic Ocean", Taylor pointed out, right inside an area known as the 'Bermuda Triangle'. I saw your portal open, and I thought that it was land so my squadron and I attempted to fly through towards it, but I guess that I was wrong. And where you saw the war, that was most likely one of the battlefields of the Second World War; the most destructive war in world history. It has ended, but the memories will live on forever."

Celestia looked at him with great sadness. "As awful as that already sounds, there is something else that I have to tell you."

"What?"

"Your comrades, the ones that you flew with, well", Celestia had tears forming in her eyes, "They're not coming home."

"Wh-what? What do you mean by that?" Taylor hoped that it meant that they were back on Earth, and had been rescued, but he had a sinking feeling that this wasn't the case.

"Four of them crashed trying to follow you, one more made it to the portal before flying to pieces, and one final plane did make it through, only to burst into flames. The whole plane burned up before it could crash. I'm afraid that......that......you, are the only survivor." Celestia then broke down crying, and Taylor was not too far behind her.

Taylor wondered if what he was about to do was appropriate or not, but he couldn't stand to see the beautiful princess in front of him like this, so he leaned forwards, and gently pulled her into a hug.

"Shh, it's ok Princess", he whispered, fighting to hold back his own tears, I forgive you. What happened was not your fault. It was, just an accident."

"B-b-but I c-created the p-portal that k-killed your c-comrades!"

"Maybe, but if you hadn't created that portal, all of us would surely have been lost to the sea, but because you did, I survived, but....." Taylor then began crying as well, "I wish to God that it didn't have to be like this! I lived, but all of my squad-mates died!"

For the longest time, neither of them said anything; they just kept gently holding the other while they cried. Eventually though, Celestia leaned in close, and kissed Taylor gently on the cheek.

"Thank you, My Sunshine", she whispered. "This is just what I needed to feel better. Sadly, due to it's extreme instability, I did have to destroy the portal leading to Earth, so it appears that you will have to stay here in Equestria for a while."

"That, would actually be very nice, nice that is, if I didn't have to leave my mother behind though; she's the only family that I have left." Taylor then realized that he had put her picture in his jacket pocket. "Here's what she looks like." He pulled out the picture, and showed it to Celestia.

"She looks like a very sweet soul, and I feel more than awful that you have to say goodbye to her from here, instead of Earth, but the portal was sealed after I closed it due to a lightning strike. It may not be able to be opened ever again."

Taylor began to cry softly again, and Celestia comforted him while he did so.

"I feel so embarrassed", he whispered. "People my age have no business to be crying at all, let alone in front of a princess."

"I disagree. Everypony needs a good cry now and again, even me. Sadness is a perfectly normal emotion, so you shouldn't be afraid to let it out."

Taylor nodded, but he didn't say anything. He just continued to hug the beautiful princess in front of him.

Author's Note:

Well, here's Chapter 9. Sorry I didn't get it up last night, I meant to, but I was too tired after I got home from work. Don't worry though, while there may be nights that I don't write, I will see this story through to the end, and won't leave it hanging for long stretches. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, and next time, Taylor continues his conversation with Celestia, and we will also be seeing the return of Blue 01, Taylor's plane as well. I hope that all of you can't wait. Also, coments, feedback, and upvotes are always welcome, and I'll see you all in chapter 10!

ScarFox out for now!

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