The Little Curiosities

by Comma Typer

Terminal Flights

The little community of Whicker, Ohayo, is most famous for its little domestic airport. A flyover town in a flyover county of a slightly flyover state, its small-town culture is a commodity tourists ignore for other small towns or, worse, mom-and-pop’s conveniently placed in big cities.

That is why its impending closure has caught its passengers off guard.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” grouses Paper Trail. He has arrived from Fillydelphia to visit his grandmother and his rural relatives for Thanksgiving, now eating hayburgers in the cafeteria. “You still have the winter holidays!”

“We’ll be operational until after New Year’s.” The currently-on-break luggage handler, Nerve Bag, is a familiar face to Paper Trail over the years. She takes a bite off of her hayburger and a loud sip of her soda. “Then, this ship’s gonna sink.”

Airplanes come up and down, few in their number. Whereas the turkey holiday packed the stands with an army of aircraft in previous years—Whicker being one of many stops connecting Western residents to the East Coast metropolises—the outside this Thanksgiving’s resembles a dying strip mall’s parking lot on a lazy Tuesday afternoon. The terminal itself takes its cues from an oversized gymnasium with a small hoofful of passengers milling about and snaking around too many staffponies with too much time on their hooves.

“It’s the wings you see,” Nerve says. She points at the one common attribute between the two of them: their wingless torsos. “Census is slow this year, but the results so far say Whicker’s mostly pegasus country. In fact, Ohayo’s a pegasus-majority state. When our neighbor states are also big on the wing department, who needs planes?”

A pegasus couple fly in the sky. Daredevils, racing one of the planes while winged police are hot on their tracks.

“Good to know you’ll still be around for the rest of the year. Grams might have wings too, but I don’t think she could make the trip all the way to our side for New Year’s. I mean, what’s with pegasi and flight anyway? I’ve seen pegasi go on airplanes—a griffon was my seatmate on the way here!” He flails his forelegs up in the air. “My point is, flying yourself is different from sitting on a flying chair in a flying vehicle. I don’t see why airports have to close.”

“It’s experience plus practicality. They’ve already set up motels and stops in the sky. It’s like trucking except you’re not driving anything, you have wings, it’s in the sky, and the only cargo is yourself and whatever you’re bringing—oh, and Feather Express is rolling out pegasus-pulled trailers, if you haven’t heard. There're ponies too old or too young to go hundreds of miles, but for everyone else, it’s cheaper than a flight.”

He slumps. Drinks an ounce of watery soda. “What about me? There’s non-winged creatures in the world too.”

“Well, we’re planning to liquidate the whole thing. The board’s investing in some cheaper flight alternatives. You probably didn’t catch it, but we did a test run of zeppelins back in September. Was decent, but it wouldn’t be enough to keep up an airport for planes.”

“Blimps, huh?”

“Yeah, blimps. By the way, that’s Equestria’s most advanced flying vehicle. I swear, we’re in this weird limbo where we’re progressing and regressing at the same time, but it doesn’t matter because magic.”

A phone rings. “Oh! Uh, sorry, Nerve. That’s Grams, so I gotta scram. Don’t want to ruin everypony’s day by being late.”

“Oh, okay! See you on the trip back home?”

“Yeah, see you.” He stands up and trots away from the table. “Um, hello, Grams! Yeah, Happy Turkey Day to you! No turkey this year, you say? Oh, right.”

Comments

[Ninjadeadbeard]

A pegasus couple fly in the sky. Daredevils, racing one of the planes while winged police are hot on their tracks.

This is the best image of all.

[Frazikar]

Gotta wonder just who's airspace they went through or if someone's after the wayward daughter ...

[FanOfMostEverything]

When our neighbor states are also big on the wing department, who needs planes?

Ponies going cross-country? Flying to Manehattan or Seaddle is still easier and faster when jet engines do the work. To say nothing of international flights. Granted, this is a fairly minor airport, but the point stands for the larger ones.

Yeah, there may be some loss, but I can't say I can see commercial jet flights going the way of the dodo. Rainbow Dash may be able to go supersonic, but she's a very exceptional case, and I doubt she can keep it up for, say, transoceanic flights. Some people still need to be on the other side of the world by tomorrow morning in this brave new world. Unless unicorns are working on teleportation booths, the airlines will stay in business.

[Eroraf86]

10303228

Unless unicorns are working on teleportation booths, the airlines will stay in business.

They have two Twilight Sparkles and Sunset Shimmer. I give it six moons, tops.

[Comma Typer]

10302170
When I was a kid, I imagined entire operations and war taking place by toy soldiers in places like a mall and other locations outside. Perhaps the bit you quote had that as its subconscious inspiration.

10303119
I'm glad it conveyed well considering I've only been to one or two D&D sessions (and as an observer at that).

10302934
10303221
10303737
I've not yet seen magnets used in a magic way, but I think, with Sci-Twi as is, she may as well go for it and make a railgun anyway.

As for game-shows: the whole trial the Tree of Harmony put the students through would fit in Takeshi's Castle or some other high-stakes game show, so Equestria has precedent (even if said precedent would not usually be thought of as game-show material).

10302939
10303212
I'd think that regulations would prevent unidentified flying objects (or creatures) from flying too close to airplanes without permission.

10303228
10303741
Yeah, I dropped the ball on this one when it came to worldbuilding airplanes here. I thought pegasi + airplanes = outdatedness, but it turns out it wouldn't be so simple. Still, maybe flying planes as a hobby may start declining when hobby pilots get wings.

[Frazikar]

I'd think that regulations would prevent unidentified flying objects (or creatures) from flying too close to airplanes without permission.

Actually, the regs usually list the penalties when caught [flying through restricted airspace]. As for airplanes, some pegasi might consider it a challenge to catch it from behind, counting coup as it were ...